Machinations of a Forlorn Conspiracy
by UninnocentBystander
Summary: A suspicious party came to E-Rantel wearing rings similar to that of Nazarick's. Not letting any lead on those who brainwashed Shalltear go, Ainz' investigation quickly goes out of control leading to a series of events that will shake the very foundations of Nazarick. [Set after the LN Vol 13]
1. Prologue: False Leads

_PROLOGUE: FALSE LEADS_

 **Suzuki Satoru**

There are only so few moments for Suzuki Satoru to express his anxieties. His time alone practicing his lines is one of them. Though his undead body regulates his emotions, there had always been a lingering feeling of stupidity as he watches himself practice his lines as he reads it in front of the mirror. With the guardians' constant admiration and praise, he couldn't receive the type of feedback he needed. Looking back to the times when he spied on Jircniv, the emperor doesn't seem to have any problems with this.

 _If I could have even a portion of that natural charisma I wouldn't have to practice like this. I wonder how my friends would react to this if they see me acting this way. This would be embarrassing._

Ainz sighs. Despite not being physically tired, he feels drained. After that stunt in the Holy Kingdom, he really has no clue what Demiurge has been planning for him. He couldn't possibly use the same excuse he gave as last time.

As Ainz contemplates his life. An unexpected knock came from the door.

"May I enter, Ainz-sama?" It was Albedo, the Guardian Overseer of Nazarick and Prime Minister of the Sorcerous Kingdom of Ainz Ooal Gown.

With a quick motion, he hides his practice cards in his inventory and tells her to come in. A beautiful woman in white dress enters the room, her face serious but her pace elegant. She bows to Ainz in solemn silence.

"Raise your head, Albedo. And tell me what you came for."

"Yes, Ainz-sama. Forgive me for intruding in the middle of the night. I bear news that must be made known to you at once. It may be related to the people who had brainwashed Shalltear."

Hearing the last sentence, the glow in Ainz' eyes flared up, a deep seated anger had started to awaken in Ainz. He urges Albedo to continue.

"I received this report from Pandora's Actor recently. He noticed a group of three suspicious individuals and made an investigation as Momon, he has been able to attach a shadow demon to one of them. All of them are wearing an anti-divination ring similar to that of Nazarick's. He believes that they all came from Yggdrasil. As soon as I was notified I sent eight eight-edge assassins to shadow them and went here to you, Ainz-sama."

If it was possible, Ainz' eyes would've widened. This is the first physical sign of other players from Yggdrasil. A sense of urgency flows toward every fiber of his being. Thoughts both reasonable and unreasonable flow through his mind.

 _If they are the ones who brainwashed Shalltear, this could get very dangerous. Why now of all times? What are they doing here and what are they plotting? If they are in hiding, why are they out in the open in E-Rantel of all places? Do they wish to confront me? To question me? We know too little… But it shouldn't hurt to be prepared for anything… but first things first._

"Where is Pandora's Actor now?"

"I had him carry on the task of assuming the role of Momon as soon as the Eight-Edge Assassins arrive."

"As expected of you, Albedo. You made a sound decision. It would only bring more suspicion if Momon were to be caught sneaking around. And seven should be enough to ensure at least one escape should they decide to attack."

"Thank you, Ainz-sama. What would be your orders?"

He looks back to his days in Yggdrasil.

 _When it comes to Player Killing, it is always necessary to catch your opponent off-guard with a decisive first strike. The best response to that is hiding countermeasures that your attackers should not be able to foresee. At least that would be the case when you know it's your enemy. We have yet to confirm that they are. If we were to suddenly pounce on them and they were to be innocent, then that might give me a bad reputation._

"Albedo, notify all the guardians of this news and tell them to be on high alert. We never know if there is more of them or not. Have the eight-edge assassin report their movements on the fly. Have Nigredo scout them out, but tell her to be cautious of anti-divination spells and look for accomplices who may be hiding nearby. And lastly, tell Shalltear and Aura to be on standby. We might need them soon."

"As you command, Ainz-sama."

* * *

 _[Edited as of 12-01-18]_

 **Warning:** **This fanfiction is heresy.**

 **This story is a heavy reinterpretation and extension of Overlord canon lore and will develop beloved characters created by Maruyama-sama in obviously unintended ways. There will be plenty of Original Characters, both important and insignificant.**

 **If this does not appeal or interest you in the slightest, then this is not the fic for you.**

 **Glory be to his majesty Ainz Ooal Gown.**

 **Only heresy awaits.**


	2. The Party of Strangers I

_THE PARTY OF STRANGERS_

 **Arisa I**

"Is that slavery? I read from one of the books at home that Egyptians used to build pyramids like this," the crimson-haired teenager asks as she points at the frost trolls building a statue of the Sorcerer King.

"Hestia, don't point. That's rude." The middle-aged bearded companion chides her, then turns to the Naga immigration officer and apologizes for his companion's rudeness.

Ryraryus, true to his work, replies "This old one does not know what Egyptians you compare His Majesty to. However, let me give you some sage advice I tell most necessary for all outsiders. Throwing any insults to his majesty's name would do you no good, even if that's not one's intention. It's not as grave a crime as declaring opposition. Regardless, if the wrong person were to hear you, the consequences could be..." the Naga closes his eyes as he searches for the right word.

"Permanent."

The middle-aged man nods gravely and smiles at the officer. "We'll take that advice to heart, thank you." He turns to his two companions; the crimson-haired teenager and a hulking suit of armor then back to the crimson-haired teen. "You heard that right?"

The armor nods.

"Yeeees." A boorish drawn-out reply.

Done with the inspections, the trio bid goodbye to the officer and entered the city.

"Hestia, it's not slavery. It's called ego." The suit of armor chimes playfully as it pokes her in the cheek.

"Hey Arisa, don't go teaching those things to the kid or we'll get in trouble." The middle-aged man chides. "We can't afford to be so carefree here yet." He gives her a stern look.

"What? The people can't possibly know what we're talking about dear. And besides, we can handle anyone that comes our way." The suit of armor retorts.

"That's the kind of attitude that gets people killed. Trust me."

"I want to eat." Hestia inserts on the middle.

The armor sighs, "We just unequipped the ring of sustenance. You can't be hungry so soon."

"We can eat once we find a room to stay the night. We'll also be discussing our plans once inside. In the meantime, keep your anti-divination rings. Don't want to run into trouble with anyone who can detect magic."

The man takes in the view. The streets have littered people, human, demi-human, and undead alike. It's nothing he'd ever seen since coming to this new world. "It's honestly a fresh sight. We no longer have to live so far from civilization here."

"Quite a sight eh no?" A young man wearing armor with a sword at his hip walks into the sightseeing party. "Judging by the worry on your face, you must be new." He offers a handshake. "The name's Colt by the way, an adventurer."

"Jean-Jacques. These are my companions Arisa and Hestia." He waves to his companions. Arisa making a bow as graceful as a steel suit of armor allows, while Hestia greets with a wide grin. "So is it true what I heard? The Sorcerer King supporting a brand new adventurer's guild here in E-Rantel."

"Ah yes. The higher ups are working on the specifics and implementation. Though if I am to be frank, I was scared at first. With His Majesty changing everything I know about the guild and all. I didn't know how I'll hold up compared to demihumans. I didn't know how to talk with them. I felt that if I said something they didn't like they might just eat me or something… But now that I've gotten to know them, they're really okay. Without His Majesty, I would probably still think that anything that isn't human is out to get us." Colts eyes looks to the horizon as if staring into a future with a vision of hope, friendship, and adventure.

This is a good sign.

As if just remembering the newcomers, Colt clears his throat. "But you probably didn't need to hear that," he shrinks.

"No, it's okay. Truth be told, to travelers, any talk of coming to the Sorcerous Kingdom had always been filled with controversy. There's just a lot of risk. It was reassuring to hear that the Sorcerer Kin—oh. That His Majesty had been good to his people at the least." He smiles a genuine smile. "Say, would you mind telling me about Momon? You know, the adamantite adventurer. There are some who say that he's a traitor who threw his lot with the undead and all. I would like to hear some insider's perspective."

Hearing the question, Colt's eyes widened. "Momo—Momon-san did nothing wrong! He stayed in E-Rantel to make sure that we citizens were safe. He listened to the people and brought our pleas to His Majesty. He is an admirable man, if it wasn't for his example I would've also left. To be called a traitor…" Colt grits his teeth and bites his lips. Then he sighs. "I guess I can kinda understand. If it weren't because of spending my time here I would've said the same… But still, it's all the more reason for those who know to spread the word." Colt makes a fist in his hand, filled with determination.

Jacques smiles, asking him further questions, directions, and adding some input of his own. Colt, young, helpful, and passionate as he is, answers his questions, corrects any misinformation Jacques may have come across on, and tells him even stories about his experiences in the Sorcerous Kingdom, what to do and not to do and all that.

Meanwhile in at least half a foot away…

"Ma, what's pa doing?" Hestia curiously points to Jacques and the person named Colt.

Her question is quickly answered with a sudden smack at the head by a steel-colored arm. "Don't point."

"sorry"

The armor draws the girl close, away from the two men. Arisa then lowers herself to Hestia so that her helmet are of the same height as her head. "Don't disturb your pa, he's gathering information." She raises a finger to the level of their lips and whispers "it's a really important thing right now."

Hestia nods in understanding.

After a few more minutes of conversation, they decided to part ways with Colt. Jacques leaves, satisfied.

"Did you use magic?" Arisa asks.

"An outsider asking a lot of questions makes sense this time. Besides, with Death Knights patrolling the city, who knows what other security they have hidden. They may have something to detect strong magic. It has its risks." Jacques explains. "There's an inn we could stay in past this market. It's also near the adventurer's guild so we may be able to find more information about Momon by hanging around the area. With the way things are now, we should be safe for the night."

"After we make sure that Ainz Ooal Gown isn't hostile, it should be safe to ask permission to live in its borders. We can also ask at the temple for their housing program, but let's put that on hold until we know we're safe."

The trio was walking through the market. A brown haired middle-aged man, a crimson haired teen, but what made them looked odd is that person in full-plate armor walking with them. But given the recent events and changes that has happened to E-Rantel, nobody pays them much heed but every so often a passing 'Momon-wannabe' comment is made. Arisa's head dropping slightly with each passing comment.

 _I am attracting too much attention. Sorry, Takao…_

Making their way to a street, on the outskirts of the market with less people. Near enough the adventurer's guild to see but far enough away to not draw attention. Jacques stops. "Don't mind it, dear. I wouldn't have the courage to be here if it were not for you."

Jacques removes his glove and places his hand on the armor on the part where the stomach should've been. Caressing the empty armor as if a baby sleeps within it. "I can almost feel it. Our child."

There are times in life where you just get lost in the moment, on impulse, on emotions. Even in times when they shouldn't be. That is what Hestia, an npc, has learned throughout the years of watching the two before her. It's been like this a lot when they were first transported into this new world. And now even more so that Arisa is pregnant. She doesn't understand it then, and she doesn't understand it even now. Why do people get so emotional when it comes to a child? Even Jacques, the smart one cries in these conversations. She doesn't understand it. She just doesn't. Why bring it up now when we cannot afford to get too much attention? Dealing with these two can sometimes be hard.

Hestia casts a spell over the group.

「Illusion」

"Sorry… If I hadn't proposed revisiting our first date in Yggdrasil one last time we wouldn't-"

"Sssh. Ssssh." Jacques hushes Arisa to a whisper, so that others wouldn't look pass the illusion. "We've talked about this before. WE. TRIED. EVERYTHING… we can." His whispers are strained. "There's no way back…"

A solemn silence that drowns all of the hubbub in the market. Remembering the time when they first realized the fact that there's just no foreseeable way to go back to Earth.

 _There's no way back. Not a sign. Our kids. Our jobs. Earth. Our home. They're all gone. Probably forever._

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry… I'm sorry for bringing it up. Let's not talk about it here. We can't break our cover now." The Arisa declares, calming down.

"Yes, we can't. Not until we know it's safe. Thanks, Hestia. That was quick thinking using illusio-"

"Don't thank me yet. Look." The crimson haired teen points towards the adventurer's guild. There are two people heading towards their way. One was a warrior clad in raven-black armor from head to toe. One was well kept middle aged man with a moustache, wearing armor fitting of an adventurer, one may go even further and describe him as majestic if he were not standing side-by-side with a legendary adamantite adventurer beside him.

It's Momon.

The group quickly gets their act together and Hestia dispels her illusion just before Momon arrives.

"Good afternoon, I'm afraid I have not seen your faces in these parts before. Are you perhaps looking to be adventurers?" The man clad in black armor inquires as he eyes the trio, offering a hand.

A demon from the shadow of Momon's extended arm moved unnoticed to Jacques.

"You must be Momon of Darkness. I have heard much of your exploits. It's an honor to meet you sir." Jacques face lights up with a smile then shakes his hands. "To answer the question, no. I'm afraid we are not. My companions and I are travelers looking for a place to stay the night." Once again, Jacques waves his hand toward his companions with an intentional step backward.

"Oh, is that so? My bad. As an apology, allow me to point you towards the nearest inn. It is near." Momon turns to the man beside him. "Ainzach, it seems you may have been right this time. I might have gotten a little too excited with the recent developments with the guild."

"Look at you, Momon-dono." He lets out an amused chuckle. "I must admit, it's looking like the adventurer's guild gonna have a bright future ahead. Little by little, adventurers had answered His Majesty's call for adventurers who actually venture into the unknown… But still, that's no reason to assume anyone with decent looking equipment would be asking to join."

"Just this morning, we've met one of them. A young and helpful adventurer had already given us directions to the inn." Jacques had the directions re-confirmed to honor Momon's apology and the trio went on their way.

"You've gotten really good with talking to strangers." Arisa comments.

"Spending a year being nobody to an unknown land does that to you."

"Sorry for being so useless."

They arrive at the inn.

It was a busy inn. Humans, dwarves, and even a couple of other demihuman species Jacques doesn't recognize populate the noisy bar. It was a place where travelers, workers, and fledgling adventurers stay. They wouldn't be out of place here. It was perfect. They rent two room, paying with coin made from the Baharuth Empire. With their business concluded, they promptly entered their room upstairs.

The room was small, with bunk beds enough to accommodate four. There are only two exits; the door from which they entered and a window into a dark alleyway. Ideally, a room adjacent to the main road is best but unfortunately it was already occupied. Jacques casts some spells just in case.

「Alarm」

「Rabbit Ear」

"Can I finally change my form?" The crimson haired teen sings as she jumps face down into the rough bed.

"Do as you wish."

"I think I'm gonna keep this look."

"Make up your mind."

"Save the chitchat for later. We need to talk about what we've learned so far. About Momon-"

"Momon already knows about us." Hestia declares as she props herself up from the bed, cutting off Jacques. "He is a doppelganger. Like me. But much more powerful." A serious questioning look come from the two. "It's my first time meeting another doppelganger, but it felt obvious to me. Instinctual, to be more precise."

"Perhaps it's an inherent racial skill? I read in the internet one time that doppelganger's aren't allowed to take the identity of another doppelganger… but that's kinda part of urban myths than Yggdrasil lore."

"That's not so far-fetched, actually. We're not exactly living with Yggdrasil here. Might as well work with what information we have." He looks at both his companions. "Still, this is bad. They learned of us far too soon."

"So, is Momon a player or an NPC?"

"At first I thought that he was a player since he is probably a demihuman under the helmet. But now that we learned he is a doppelganger, it may as well be both. So my theory that there are at least two players from Ainz Ooal Gown exists. Let's unpack all that we learned first and see if we can psychologically profile them. Al, I need you specially. Tell me about gamer things. Things an academic like me would miss."

She nods enthusiastically, seeing an opportunity for a gamer like her to be helpful for once.

 _Depending what type of person this Ainz Ooal Gown is… No. Depending on the state of the guild of Ainz Ooal Gown is in, the Sorcerous Kingdom can either be our salvation or our end._

* * *

 **AN:** Aaaaah, there's a lot to set-up but it was fun to write. I hope it I did a well-enough job, I'm not used to writing fiction. A very special thank you for the feedback I received from the prologue, and as recommended, I wrote something a little longer. Feedback is greatly appreciated. Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it.


	3. The Party of Strangers II

_THE PARTY OF STRANGERS_

 **Jacques I**

"Ainz Ooal Gown. They're an infamous Player Killer guild of heteromorphic races. They are also well-known for their competitive pvp play. It's one of the best guilds there are. My guild, Gamer Girl Paradise, joined the alliance with 1000 other players and npcs to attack Nazarick. But it still wasn't enough." Arisa explains.

"And of the players? Have you ever met them?"

"Just one. I've battled against one before on a tournament but I was defeated soundly. One of the nine World Champions…" Arisa debates for a few seconds if she should tell the silly name. She figured she's gonna get asked anyway so she might as well. "Touch Me."

"Eh?" Jacques asks, confused.

"Eeeeeeeh?! Ma, is it really the right time for that kind of thing?" Hestia quickly asks.

"No! It's not like that, Hes." Arisa says, flustered. "That's the name. One of the players." She looks at Hestia probingly. "Where did you even learn those things?"

"When I was bored alone, I used a divination spell to see what you two were doing. It was weird. You were-"

"Keep that to yourself!" Arisa yells, even more embarrassed.

"Hestia," Jacques calls with a hand covering half his face, holding back his embarrassment. "Don't ever do that again."

"Yes."

Jacques clears his throat, attempting to muster his composure. "Going back. What was it about TouCh ME?" _pzzt._ A small burst snicker of laughter escape as he said the name only to be rewarded by a quick slap of steel justice to the side. Prompting him to ask again, but properly this time.

Which he did.

"He's a monster in martial combat. I couldn't really do anything against him. Other than that he's a top fighter, I really don't know much about him."

"Do you think he's Momon?"

Arisa shakes her head.

Jacques strokes his beard. "You didn't encounter any other player when you attacked Nazarick?"

"It was all traps, monster spawns, and NPCs. I got done in by a giant hell slime on the 7th floor. The rest of the players got defeated on the 8th. There's word that the players are waiting on the 10th floor. Like some climactic boss battle. They're really playing into the whole evil lair thing." She pauses. "Frankly, if I were to take a guess, it would only take two powerful NPCs to defeat us all."

"That's bad news. Not to mention that NPCs from an evil lair is bound to be troublesome. Also… that Nazi anagram doesn't sit well with me." Jacques commented.

"Eh? Why is that bad?" Hestia asks.

"Because, Hes. NPCs there are likely created to have an evil karma. With roleplaying and all." Arisa pinches Hestia's cheeks with a mix of endearment and frustration, resulting to some small amount of pain on Hestia's part. She still hasn't forgiven her for spying on them.

"Ignorance, the root and stem of all evil." Hestia said, quoting Plato nonchalantly. Inquisitive as ever, Hestia asks further "What's roleplaying?"

"Hmm…" Arisa hums, thinking of a way to explain it.

"That's what people do when people play the part of someone else." Jacques offers.

"I see. So it's like me when I call you ma and pa."

The pair lets out an uncomfortable laugh as they looks at each other. Empathetic to each other's surprise.

 _Is that really how she thinks of us? That hurts._

"I thought you agreed to be our adopted daughter."

Hestia nods, oblivious as to why her parents are acting so weirdly.

"You are my parents. My mother and my father. Adopted as I may be. People I love. But am I not playing the part of a child? The one you lost? As replacement."

A straightforward question. But a reassuring one nonetheless.

"No, Hes." Arisa, realizing the best answer is a straightforward one says. "You can never replace the one we lost. But you are just as special as he was. Different, but special all the same. That's why we are here. With you and the next one coming. We're looking for a new home."

Hestia nods "sorry, I misunderstood."

"And what's more. That's not roleplaying, Hes. Roleplaying would be like the time when you transformed into that acolyte and gave me access to Fluder's private library." Jacques add.

"I see. So that's roleplaying."

"Okay then. It's time to take a list of the beings we need to look out for." He produces a list of names of the known and unconfirmed members of Ainz Ooal Gown. "Jaldabaoth. Honyopenyoko. An unconfirmed vampire that's also hunted down by Momon. Momon, the adamantite adventurer, his doppel. Nabe. Touch Me, who is either not here or keeping it low. The Sorcerer King who assumed the name of the guild, and the Prime Minister of the Sorcerous kingdom, Albedo." He pauses. "Out of all of them, Momon and the Sorcerer King are the ones I suspect to be players given their behavior. Also, it is highly likely that there are rogue NPCs within their ranks, the presence of Jaldabaoth, Honyopenyoko, and the other vampire Momon is hunting down suggests as much." After explaining in further detail to his companions on his theory of the state of Ainz Ooal Gown he summarizes it.

"In short, there is still so much we do not know. Given the sheer strength of Nazarick and what had happened with players who are similarly transported in the past, it would not be a stretch to claim that they would sooner or later seek to amass more power and territory."

"So you're saying that the 200,000 of deaths is still just the beginning… and what's the endgame?"

"The Sorcerous Kingdom is likely to fall due to infighting in many decades, if not centuries, after. But that is inevitable. All great nations wither as time goes by. The only difference here is that there simply isn't anything in this world that could seek to even challenge Ainz Ooal Gown's power. I don't think even an alliance of the Eight Greed Kings, the Six Gods, and the Thirteen Heroes can. Much less us. If we continue to live our lives in hiding and isolation, there is no doubt that they would find us eventually. That is why, it is ultimately better for us to instigate contact right now while we have the chance to offer to be more civil." Then he adds, "That, and I'm getting tired of living so far from civilization."

Silence filled the room as the other two digest what have been said.

Both clarifying a detail or two as the time went by.

Jacques rabbit ears twitch as he hears hurried footsteps approach the room. An alarm sets off, the door opens and all three look to see who it is.

The man that entered didn't bother to knock. It was Jacques. He hurriedly closes the door and drops the bread he had bought from the market. With a serious face he scanned the room. "They sent 5 assassins and a shadow demon, possibly more. Teleportation's blocked. This is a really bad place to stay the night. We're leaving." He turns to the Jacques inside the room. "Is there something I should know?"

Before Jacques is able to reply, Arisa cuts in cracking her knuckles. "Maybe you should be the one telling us."

Everybody understood what's going to happen. "Look to the ceiling and outside the alley. Use stop time. And check for shadow demons. That's all you need to see." Jacques (the one who just entered) stood there motionless.

The other Jacques nods to these instructions. Committing it to memory.

"Thank you for the food." Hestia chimes as she casually grabs the plastic of bread and start cutting it in two.

"Thank you dear. And good bye." With a single step, the armor closes the distance between them and with one quick motion, punches the man and dissolves to non-existence.

* * *

Quantum Sorcerer

Quantum Sorcerers are mages who had the power to directly manipulate the threads of reality. Only those who have mastered both space and time can even attempt to claim the title. It is unmatched in maneuverability but lacks the offensive capability to fully utilize its strong setup moves. It is favored by trolls and nerds alike.

* * *

 **Ainz Ooal Gown I**

「Message」

"Ainz-sama." It was Shalltear.

"What is it, Shalltear? Are the preparations ready on your end?"

"Yes. I have Aura already with me and Nigredo had confirmed that there are no other enemies nearby."

"That is good. But are there other news? I find it hard to believe you contacted me directly just for that."

"My exalted lord and master. I know it to be foolish of someone such as me who had failed you before, but would you allow me be granted a personal request? Not a day goes by that I feel not guilt for pointing my blade towards you and I would like to right my previous mistakes. Please, allow this servant of yours to do battle take on those who had forced me to take up arms against you."

Ainz can only imagine what Shalltear's is feeling but regardless, what kind of person would allow his child to run headfirst into danger? "Shalltear. Under no circumstances that you are not to engage alone. What's more we have yet to confirm these people guilty. You are to teleport with Aura in the forests near E-Rantel and meet up with us. Nigredo have already scouted the area so it should be safe. We can't lift the teleportation barrier for you. We can't risk anyone teleporting out or in as they please. Our priority is to keep track of them and gather information as much as we can. We'll capture them if we must. I would like to avoid engaging in combat within the city if possible. Do not do anything rash."

"As you command, Ainz-sama."

"Good."

"Yes, Ainz-sama."

The message ends. Sitting in his office in E-Rantel, he wonders for a second if he should contact Aura to keep an eye on Shalltear but decided against it. It would be like insulting their intelligence. What's more it is likely that they are already together. It would only get awkward if Aura would receive a message from Ainz if that were the case.

Momon, Nabe, and Albedo are gathered in the room. The adamantite adventurers, who arrived during Ainz conversation with Shalltear kneels patiently to be acknowledge by Ainz. Albedo, wearing full armor is standing by Ainz' side as overseer.

"Ah, you have arrived, Pandora's Actor, Narberal Gamma."

The adamantite adventurers of Darkness, hearing their real names, revert to their true forms. Momon turning into a doppelganger wearing a yellow military uniform and coat and the beautiful princess Nabe, reveals a maid outfit lined with armor under her adventurer's coat.

"Of course, Ainz-sama. What member of Nazarick would even think of not answering a summons from one such as yourself?" A raised hand drops from above his head as he bows once more, for a split second laments how his father had forbidden him from saluting.

"We are yours to command, Ainz-sama." Narberal Gamma adds.

Recovering from his bow, he turns and grabs the edge of his hat with his hands "Ainz-sama, I bring news of the two of the parties' abilities."

Ainz was half-tempted to shout at Pandora's Actor for his eccentricities, wanting him to take the situation more seriously. There is just too many unknowns. They could be really dangerous. They could've been the one who mind-controlled Shalltear. But regardless, it was only thanks to Pandora's Actor that we are made aware of their existence. That in itself deserves a reward. "Before anything else, have you checked if they were able attach any sort of surveillance on you?"

Pandora's Actor stands attention, putting one of his arms on his chest. "Yes, Ainz-sama. I have taken all precautions for any type of surveillance on me.

"That is good. Continue."

"Ainz-sama. With my reconnaissance, I am able to ascertain 3 of the party's abilities. First, one of them is a magic caster who can duplicate himself and control time. He was able shake off the shadow demon I planted on him with the use of time magic. In other words, he is likely a reality shifter. Second, the same magic caster utilize mouse familiars for recon, they are probably wary of counter-divination magic. Many of these rat familiars positioned themselves near the adventurer's guild before disappearing. Third, among the three, one of them is a greater doppelganger. Unfortunately, I am unable to pinpoint their actual strength. The doppelganger in particular is in the form of human child, so it is expected that its abilities would be lower than how powerful it really is. But so far, they are wary but have yet to show no reason for provocation."

It takes a while for Ainz absorb the information, Ainz pauses to think back on his days in Yggdrasil.

 _This reality shifter Pandora's Actor spoke of, it can only be one thing. A Quantum Sorcerer. Quantum Sorcerers is a class favored by gankers and trolls. It has the great teleportation and positioning abilities that can even drag enemies across the map. Its setup abilities are infamous for its PK and gank potential, but since it has garbage offensive capability and it requires a 1 vs many to be fully utilized with easy counters such as block teleportation and stasis, it's not a competitive build. BUT! Players who choose this class are likely part of big guild due to their lack of one-on-one potential so it's highly likely that there are others. Even if its not those three, they may be a lead to those who brainwashed Shalltear. Also… I've never heard of the spell conjure rat familiar in Yggdrasil before. If it is a low level spell, then why have I not come across this before? I doubt that the devs would actually make this a hidden spell… well, okay, maybe they would. But why would a Quantum Sorcerer even choose to learn it? Do they have a strong special ability to set traps or surveillance? There's too many unknowns. This could get really dangerous. Not to mention there is still doppelganger and a still unknown armored warrior._

"You have done well, Pandora's Actor. They are a potential problem indeed. I shall reward you at a later time. Right now, we have other things we must do."

"Eh?" Pandora's Actor asks himself suddenly, not remembering calling them a threat or a problem.

"Albedo, in Nigredo's report, you are certain that she reported there is no other powerful beings around E-Rantel?"

"Yes. Ainz-sama. I am positive. Should I ask her to recheck again?"

"Do it at once. We can never be too careful."

"As you command, Ainz-sama." Albedo immediately uses message to contact Nigredo to issue commands.

"Narberal Gamma. Once Nigredo confirms it safe, you are to head outside E-Rantel where teleportation isn't blocked. Take two Death Knights with you. Return to Nazarick and standby. I hope I no longer need to remind you to use the fake Nazarick in the Great Forest of Tob? Sorry, but engaging this would be far too dangerous for you. I do not want to make unnecessary risks to any of you. Not to mention that this would be a good opportunity to catch any fools to follow you."

She laments not being strong enough to protect the Supreme Being before her but lets it go. "I am very sorry for my weakness, Ainz-sama. I am undeserving of such kindness. I will do as you command." She bows.

"Pandora's Actor. Prepare for battle and to move out at a moment's notice. We will not let these people escape our sight."

Pandora's Actor looks at his creator blankly, at least that it would look like that to any observer. He remembers how the armored knight he saw a while back held the hand to the doppelganger child as if it was one's own. "Father, my lord and creator. The supreme being to which I pledge my allegiance to the most. Forgive me if I speak out of line... But what do you intend to do with these people?"

There was no answer. A sudden silence. Pandora's Actor could not imagine what thoughts his creator have right now. But more than that, he can feel the pressure from the dagger-like stares he is receiving from Narberal Gamma and Albedo. Pandora's Actor suddenly feels heavy, beads of cold sweat started falling from his head.

"I am only worri-"

"YOU DARE QUESTION THE WORDS OF THE SUPREME BEING OF WHICH WE SERVE, PANDORA'S ACTOR?! YOU, WHO ARE CREATED PERSONALLY BY AINZ-SAMA WOULD DA-"

"That is enough, Albedo." Calms Ainz. He turns to Pandora's Actor, ignoring the fact that Pandora's Actor referred to him as father in front of the others, he asks "I trust there is a reason for your inquiry?"

"Ainz-sama, it is simply that I could not see how these people could be a threat to any of us. They have so far not done anything wrong or done anything to warrant it. Legally or otherwise." He says, without much gusto or energy as before.

"Ah… is that so." Ainz pauses for a bit.

While thinking about it, he realizes the piercing stares that is directed to Pandora's Actor.

"It pleases me that you speak your mind, Pandora's Actor. Being in service to someone isn't just simply following every word that is said. "

The heavy atmosphere disappears as both Albedo and Narberal Gamma look to Ainz for what he has to say. Pandora's Actor eases up, thankful that he won't be branded a traitor for his words.

 _Now that he mentioned it, he's right. But I can't possibly say false alarm and go back to the way it was. That would be embarrassing. Though what's more, even if it's just a tiny bit of chance that they are connected to the ones who mind-controlled Shalltear, I can't let that go._

"However." Ainz' continues. "It is not as simple as that."

Ainz explains that other than this is the first time that someone who could potentially be the one who brainwashed Shalltear appeared, he explains that Quantum Sorcerers are tricky and often excel in Player Killing. If they are not careful, they would be the ones who will be on the suffering end.

"As expected of Ainz-sama. You really have thought of things through. Forgive me for questioning you."

"I am also at fault, Pandora's Actor. I fail to recognize your concerns. Sorry." He makes a short bow.

"No, no. Ainz-sama. The fault was mine."

After a few more words exchanged. Narberal Gamma leaves.

A few moments later, Ainz receives a message. It was Nigredo."

"WHAAAAT!? Shalltear and Aura are fighting the party!? South, got it. We'll be going then."

Everyone in the room looks to Ainz in shock.

"Albedo, Pandora's Actor. Let's go."

"Yes, Ainz-sama"

「Mass Fly」

 _Aura, Shalltear, hang on tight._

* * *

 **AN:** Finally done with the setup~ Aaaah. Things are about to go down. For those of you who pointed out in the reviews that Ainz was just an elementary graduate in a shittier world than I imagined, thank you for pointing it out. That was a massive oversight on the premise on my part. With some adjustments, I could still make the story work in the way I planned it. And once again, feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 **Edit:** Also, a quick note. I'm enrolling masters study this month (and find a job after because life) so I'm not so sure for how long I'll be able to write these chapters. Hopefully I'll be able to write plenty before I get busy with both. Just wanted to let you guys know in case I suddenly go missing for months on end.


	4. The Party of Strangers III

_NEW PLAYERS OF THE GREAT GAME_

 **Jacques II**

"Eight Edge-Assassins. They're nothing we can't handle. But it'd be dangerous to Hes if they get the jump on her. With that many, a concentrated burst attack could get her killed in seconds." Arisa explains to the party.

"Then, I'll transform into someone tougher. I think I can take on Momon's form." The red-haired girl closes her eyes to concentrate, attempting to remember all the information she knew about Momon from her encounter and the gossip she's heard from their travels.

"Wait. Best not to reveal that card yet. That might be good as a surprise later when we really need it." Arisa says. "If we ever get into ambushed, that could buy some time for you two to escape, at least."

Hestia and Jacques nods, finding it sensible.

 _In Yggdrasil, a strong build alone does not make win a battle._ This is what Arisa has realized as the one of the top competitive players in her guild before it dissolved. Granted, Gamer Girl Paradise is a far cry from Ainz Ooal Gown in terms of guild competitiveness. Nevertheless, her skills and adaptability in battle had always been a source of pride for her. That philosophy of hers is also the reason she respec her character a lot more than the average player to try out different builds.

When she was transported into this world, she had the luck to be stuck in the body of a heteromorph. If one where to place the competitiveness of her build, it would at the lower part of the top tier. Unfortunately, her body comes with a drawbacks that didn't translate well into the New World.

"They don't seem to be trying to do anything hostile for now. But I don't want to stay the night in this condition. My teleportation is blocked and who knows what they are planning. We'd be lambs waiting for a slaughter if we sleep here." Jacques states.

"That settles it, we're leaving then."

"We'll return tomorrow with doubles so that we don't have to worry about surprise attacks." Jacques stands up. "Get ready, you two."

They nod in unison as both stand up in the room, facing an open window leading to a dark alley.

「Detect Undead」, 「Detect Life」, 「Mass Fly」

「Mass Camouflage」

Jacques takes a peek out the dark alley. _One, two, three, four._ Four red spider-like silhouettes litter the walls and street. Taking note of their positions. He signals the others to fly behind him. Compared with other invisibility spells, Mass Camouflage is significantly less potent than the others but that doesn't mean that there is no use for it. There are two things Mass Camouflage can do better than the stronger spells. First, that attacking and skills does not break the camouflage. Second, that one can apply it to a large number of people, giving those who don't have access to invisible skills some allowance in trying to be stealthy.

Sensing movement, the four Eight-Edge Assassins turn to Jacques. Unfortunately, they realize the escape attempt too quickly. As the first thing they see are three people flying in the alley with a sorcerer casting a spell.

「Augment Time」「Extend Magic: Mass Paralysis」

"That should keep them from reporting to their superiors for some time."

The party flies out the alley to the skies. People would have a harder time noticing the three camouflaged against the backdrop of the sky. Not wanting to point the Sorcerous Kingdom towards their player home, the three decided to exit E-Rantel Southwards, towards the direction of the theocracy.

Passing the barrier surrounding E-Rantel, they head for the forest near them. It should be safer than staying at the inn surrounded by assassins. This would also be an ideal environment for Arisa if trouble where to show itself. A feeling of reassurance comes over Jacques as he no longer feels anything inhibiting his teleportation spells. At this point their camouflage had already worn off but it no longer matters, at least they thought so.

Finding a small clearing in the forest, they touch down and stretch for a bit, clearing some tension.

Just as Jacques is about to ask Arisa why she hasn't summoned a cabin yet, she motions to the two to keep quiet. The two obeyed wordlessly, taking note of Arisa as she communicates with the trees. Crouched to the tree facing northwards, she removes her right gauntlet, revealing a slim wooden branch, like a spear, it extends and pierces the ground.

A few seconds of silence pass, and with a grim voice she tells the others. "Something is following us. It's powerful." She pauses. "I'll see if I can get any more info."

"What? That's too quick!" Hestia exclaims.

"So soon." Jacques whispers to himself.

 _Was leaving a bad call? No. That can't be. It was too risky. Rather, the question we should be asking is… what are these people trying to accomplish?_

A tense atmosphere drops over the party.

For the past year, Jacques have traveled from one nation to the next in search for knowledge and information, trying to make sense of the world they are transported into. Trying to find a way back to the world they left behind. As bad as the world was, he has a reason to stay. Had a reason to stay. He is not a fighter. He is a scholar. But even so, even he has to realized that there are nothing in the New World can pose a threat to him. Through his research, he realized that not even the powerful Dragon Lords and Godkins is of his and his wife's level. Nothing except the guild of Ainz Ooal Gown. And he made sure to steer clear of it. At least until today.

His build is weak. He knows that. He had only played the Yggdrasil to support his friends and his wife in PvE gameplay. As soon as he hit level 100, he stopped playing. Unlike his wife, his gear and skill is subpar. His spell slots aren't full. His build is only viable in PvE. He has no divine class items. His most powerful equipment is a legendary class weapon. It was only thanks to his wife that he wears a divine class robe tonight.

"It's a powerful undead accompanied by magical beasts." She looks to Jacques. "What's the plan?"

"Are they're hostile? Do we have a chance against them if things get ugly?"

"I cannot tell for certain but they are cautious. We should be able to handle it, my build is strong against those who use magical beasts."

"Let's try to talk then. Running further now would make us more suspicious than we already are," Jacques concludes as he takes a deep breath to steel his nerves.

While communicating with the trees, she felt that the number of enemies just multiplied. No, it would be more accurate that the enemy had summoned a large number of creatures.

Arisa takes a look at her companions. Jacques is nervous but Hestia looks naively confident behind him. She's the only one with the experience in battle. "Takao." She speaks his name. "If I tell you to go. Take Hes and go."

He nods in understanding.

「Animate Forest: Vines 」

* * *

Spawn of the World Tree

Spawn of World Tree is a rare class available and is considered the most powerful plant heteromorphic race in the competitive scene. It has powerful nature-oriented skills and spells that can control the battlefield. Available only to plant heteromorphs, turning into the class requires the character to become one with an Yggdrasil sapling. Being 5 kilometers the sapling grants buffs comparable to that of a guild weapon. Similar to dryads, a Spawn of the World Tree is bound to its tree.

* * *

 **Shalltear I**

A large black gate opens on the forest outside of E-Rantel.

A vampire in red armor crosses the gate, followed by a dark elf in a white-gold vest and matching white trousers. A great black canine beast and a giant chameleon follows after.

"Finally, a chance to redeem myself to Ainz-sama. To think that such a day would come!" The vampire prances around as she hops joyfully from one step to another. "All right, this time. I am absolutely, definitely not going to fail!" She declares.

"I get that you are happy to serve Ainz-sama but you really shouldn't get too carried away. Ainz-sama is really cautious right now. If we were to mess it up—"

"Of course, of course! This time, I promise. I won't mess it up. I'm gonna rip those who would dare turn us against the one and only Ainz-sama." A wicked grin appears on the vampire's face.

Her statement is met with a smack to the head by her Dark Elf companion.

"What was that for you Shorty!?" Cried the vampire.

"Shalltear, have you forgotten what we're here for? Seriously, you're the one who talked to Ainz-sama and yet you are too dead set on fighting. Use your head a little."

Shalltear flinches. It's not the first time she'd been chastised for her lack of intellect. "What Ainz-sama said is simple. Meet up with Ainz-sama to figure out strategies to beat the party."

"Uh huh. And what else did he say?" The elf asks, testing her companion.

"That the top priority is not to lose track of them. That is why the anti-teleportation force field wasn't lifted for us in the first place. So that they couldn't just leave." Of course, Shalltear remembers being told that under no circumstances that she engage alone. But she's not gonna give the elf more ammo to tease her with.

"Bingo." The elf smiles, contented. Having being trusted by the Supreme Being to look after Shalltear before, she has taken to heart the duty of nudging her in the right direction.

Just as the duo was about to leave the forest to head to E-Rantel, they spot three figures flying across the sky heading towards their general direction. Though the ability to fly is nothing amazing for the likes of the two. It is a rarity in the New World. Three humans, a red-haired child, a magic caster wearing an adorned grey robe, and someone in full steel armor. None of which they can recognize.

"Could it be?" The elf mutters to herself realizing that they could only be the party they are after.

"Aura, let's hide for now." The duo hides in the shrubbery, with the magical beasts hiding further into the forest. They watch as the three fly above them.

"Are they trying to leave?" Shalltear asks.

"I can't tell. But does that mean they have evaded Nazarick's surveillance?!" Aura whispers back.

"I guess so."

The duo rack their brains. Having a short discussion.

If they proceed as planned and the trio leaves, there'd be no point in coming to strategize with their master. This is also the first lead that they had on those who mind-controlled Shalltear. Ainz-sama would likely be disappointed if he learns that they came across them and did nothing. On the other hand, both agree that attacking them would be reckless, not to mention that Ainz-sama had forbidden Shalltear from engaging alone. In the end, they both decided that keeping track of them is the top priority.

Aura leaves, using her skills as a ranger to hide her presence in pursuit of the three. Following further behind is Shalltear who keeps a considerable distance away with Aura's beasts.

It happened suddenly, but not so suddenly that Shalltear wouldn't notice it. They've been found. Three vines from the surrounding trees lash at her. She deflects it easily a few flicks of the wrist. It's weak. But it does the job it meant to do. A thick thorny root from below her entangles her foot and catapults her towards a clearing, foot first.

"DAMN TREE!" With a violent kick, the rope-like roots break. Under these circumstances, her first thought is to break her momentum and retreat. She shouldn't have been found. She shouldn't engage. That is the order given to her by the Supreme Being. But she couldn't do that. Not only would that mean leaving her fellow guardian to an apparently sentient forest but also because she couldn't. Whatever magic was imbued in that attack had her flying that even her own wings can't counteract. The branches and trees that she should've hit had also bent themselves in ways that they wouldn't get hit. _This throw is calculated_. She has little doubt that the forest would come alive and attack her if she would attempt to leave. She curses herself. This is undoubtedly the type of encounter Ainz so strictly wanted to avoid. She has little else to do but ready herself for whatever would face her.

「Spuit Lance」

She makes a last ditch attempt to slow her descent as she stabs a nearby branch. It breaks easily without yielding much result. She doesn't feel her stamina replenished the slightest.

 _As I thought, these trees aren't sentient._

Shalltear lands as gracefully as a catapulted vampire could possibly do. Her crimson red eyes filled with a cautious fury. Lines of silver hair flow with the wind in front of her, contrasting her full red plate armor in the light of the moon.

A large needle-like lance is placed between her and the two people before her. A similarly full-plated armored warrior brandishing the color of steel but raising only gauntleted fists and a human magic caster in silver robes holding an arcane rod with a holographic cube decorating it's top.

She takes a quick glance around, moving only her pupils, never letting the two in front of her out of sight. _Where is the third one?_

"You, Vampire. State your name and why are you following us?" The magic caster asks, his stance shows hints of tension. "Are you the one being hunted down by Momon? Are you with the Sorcerer King?"

She pauses, thinking of what to say. She doesn't want to give too much information to potential threats but she nevertheless recognizes the need to establish some things when it comes to dialogue. After all, that was the lesson her beloved master wanted her to learn during their visit to the Dwarven kingdom.

"That's right. I am a loyal servant of the most powerful and wonderful ruler of all, Ainz-sama—Shalltear Bloodfallen. I was merely on my way to report to him when I happen to chance upon you flying Ainz-sama's skies so I came to investigate." With a playful voice, she adds. "Flying is a very rare skill for humans of this place, so I can't help but be suspicious."

"Is that so? Then tell us. Why would he send assassins to-"

"How rude. It is my turn to ask a question." Learning that her master had sent assassins after these people, she sharpens her senses. Her eyes are that of a cautious predator eyeing equally dangerous prey. Their equipment and skill may not look to be anything as good as hers, but she is outnumbered. She absolutely cannot allow herself to get ambushed here. She adds a threatening tone. "Where is the other human with you? Is she gonna attempt to ambush me?"

The two before her tense up, their protective parental instinct kicking in. There is no way they would tell this dangerous vampire where she is hiding. "She's not here. That's all we're gonna say." The one in the armor answers.

To the vampire, however, keeping secrets is a sign of defiance.

"Oh my, my. And after I had answered your questions truthfully." She waves her lance in front of the two as she gestures in irritation and, less noticeably, worry. "Answer my questions truthfully or it wouldn't end well for you."

"You're in no position to make threats, you-" The one in the armor stops, as if remembering something important.

Ever since she heard the name of Ainz Ooal Gown in the New World she and her husband found themselves in, Arisa had tried to remember every detail about her few experiences with the guild. Including the time when they tried to invade Nazarick. She couldn't remember every detail. That is only expected, it happened a long time ago. Much less the names of NPCs, with the exception of the slime that had defeated her. But ever since she caught sight of the vampire in front of her, it looked familiar but she couldn't remember exactly when and how strong it is. At least until she had been able to take a good look of the lance with the needle tip. Memories of her stealthier comrades giving them the first pre-boss rundown in the tomb of Nazarick.

She whispers under her breath.

"Floor guardian."

It was a whisper not intended to be heard. It was a whisper no human could've heard. To Shalltear, whose undead senses are more sensitive to sound, had managed to pick up.

It was a misstep.

To Shalltear, it is all the proof that they were the ones who brainwashed her. They recognized her. They know of her position in Nazarick. How else could they have gotten that information but from a brainwashed floor guardian?

The atmosphere changes. Shalltear's bloodlust seething. Her stance is that of a predator ready to pounce. But that was a bluff. If a fight breaks out, she will summon her household and escape. She should not fight them alone. She remembers Aura's beasts, there is no sign of them. She wonders if there are more than the three she knows of. It doesn't seem like they are aware of Aura.

"Then answer this instead. What have you done to the magical beasts with me?"

A paused silence. Both figures also assume defensive stances.

"They are safe, we had them immobile. It is only for-"

In a flash, a rain of arrows came raining down the two.

「Anti-Projectile Force Field」

While taking damage, the sorcerer moves closer to the steel-plated warrior to shield her from the arrows above.

"Al! Are you okay?" The sorcerer shouts.

"Focus Jacques! They're coming." Arisa attempts to move but couldn't. She's immobilized by an arrow that pierced her shadow. "Use cleansing light."

Jacques follows her instruction.

「Cleansing Light」

If Shalltear hadn't planned to escape, she would've jumped at the opportunity given to her right there and then. Aura is here to back her up to fight, there's no denying that. She would've escaped all the same if it was just Aura. The thoughts of her master's order is etched on her mind.

' _Shalltear. Under no circumstances that you are not to engage alone._ _'_

She planned to follow through with that even with Aura's support. She recounts one of the many conversations the supreme beings had said in these situations. When it comes to PKing and PvP, the battle should be won before it begins. Despite the wisdom of the Supreme Beings. There is only one thing that is keeping her from leaving this battle. Aura had already committed her beasts to an attack. The moment a rain of arrows came raining down the skies, a great black wolf and a giant lizard came running out the forests in a torrent of holy blasts and lightning.

Aura had always been very affectionate and loving of her magical beasts. Though they would often bicker with each other. Shalltear thinks of her as like an annoying little sister, similar to the relationship their creators share. She couldn't let them take the fall for her failure to relay the orders of her master to Aura. She couldn't live with a guilt like that. That is why she couldn't just let these magical beasts fend for themselves while she escapes those who had the power to brainwash her. The enemy is caught off guard and outnumbered. For a warrior like her. These are favorable circumstances. This is manageable.

Shalltear curses to herself as she prepares for combat. "Damn it Shorty! I should've told you Ainz-sama's every order."

Lance raised, Shalltear jumps into the fray.

* * *

 **AN:** I really thought I'd finish the fight proper itself this chapter but it turns out I'm wrong. I hope it isn't as dragging as I fear it could be. I had the most trouble making Shalltear's and Aura's banter. On another note, I'm planning to change the title and summary of the story soon so you might want to watch out for that (I can't seem to think of a good title smh). Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the story.

As always, thank you for all the feedback and reviews. I really appreciate it. Reading it motivates me to finish the story. Love how people some people would point out some typos that I missed, by the way. I don't have anyone else to do the proofreading, so I appreciate you pointing out the things I miss.

I'll also be answering some questions from the reviews publicly that other people would also like to know, maybe.

Q&A

Q: Is the Professor loosely based on the Doctor?

A: I'm assuming this is Dr. Who. I haven't really watched it so it's a no.

Q: Also, what Nazi anagram?

A: As wiki puts it, "An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once." In this way, Nazi is an anagram of Ainz (and vice-versa) since it uses the same letters.

Q: I am very interested in the quantum sorcerers, could you explain better their abilities more in depth?

A: Their abilities will be showcased soon.

Q: And could they time Travel in the New World?

A: They have better time manipulating abilities than Ainz, but nothing game breaking. Only skills from what you could expect from a game.

This is not a question, but I'll address it all the same.

R: Naberal Gamma is also a doppelganger, albeit one with really low racial levels.

A: Yes, I am aware. Thanks for pointing it out. Consider it fanfic canon (for lack of a better term) that ability to detect doppelgangers to be a greater doppelganger inherent ability. Similarly, I guess even low-level doppelgangers can recognize each other but not more powerful ones. If that makes sense.

Edit: Some proofreading. Changed the title to **Machinations of a Forlorn Conspiracy** , a title that probably doesn't make any sense right now. But consider it a hint of the things to come.


	5. The Party of Strangers IV

_THE PARTY OF STRANGERS_

 **Arisa II**

Flanked by both the magical beasts and the vampire, Arisa realizes she has to act quickly. Jacques is too focused on shielding them from the rain of arrows, and Hestia should be hiding somewhere safe. At her back, two beasts are charging from the forest, shooting both holy blasts and lightning bolts. On the other hand, in front of her, a vampire raises her lance and leaps towards them.

 _Lucky. Her reaction's late. The trap we set should buy us enough time._

Arisa turns to face the two beasts behind her. The first volley holy blast and electricity reach them. The damage is easily shaken off, but taking any free hits are dangerous.

「Wall of Thorns」

A thick green wall of thorn shields them from the approaching beasts.

 _Boom!_

The explosive land mine they prepared beforehand explodes, knocking Shalltear back. It would save them no more than a second, but it should be enough time.

The first volley of arrows keep ends and Jacques dispels the shield.

Arisa quickly turns around to face the vampire, with a stomp of her feet, the steel plate boots break, revealing a wooden form that has rooted itself in the ground.

「The Forest is Alive」

The entire forest shifts. All trees within a 500m radius turns sentient. They are Ents. They aim their spear-like branches at both Shalltear and Aura's magical beasts.

Off into the north, a bright white light is shot to the heavens followed by a sound of destruction and breaking trees. There is no doubt that that is the doing of the archer.

The bright light that was aimed at the heavens fall. Now a small bright star above the heads of the party, growing closer and bigger each second.

Seeing that there's no point in keeping up an anti-projectile shield any more. Jacques cancels it and takes a glimpse of Shalltear who has just started to recover from the knockback. Arisa had already raised a wall behind them.

 _This is bad. This isn't supposed to go this way. Why did that vampire attack us? What did we do wrong? Should I use this spell right now?_

Frantically, he searches racks his brain for a spell and strategy that is useful for this situation. His stance wide open.

Noticing how ill-prepared her partner is for the confrontation. She decides that it would be fatal for him to stay. She shouts, "Take Hes and go. I'll keep them busy."

It took a moment before Jacques nods in understanding.

「Brilliant Radiance」

A blast of holy light hits Jacques, staggering him. "As if I'll let you." It was Shalltear, and by the time she spoke she takes out a magic scroll. It was a scroll given to her by Demiurge for cases that the enemy would want to retreat.

「Teleportation Block」

A small bright light above gets bigger, closer.

The Ents that are near Shalltear reach her, dealing mostly insignificant damage. Arisa jumps toward Shalltear.

「Aspect of the Guardian: Fist of the Angry Spriggan」

Arisa's gauntlet breaks, revealing an enormous rock fist, smacking Shalltear in the head, disorienting her.

Jacques points his staff towards Arisa.

「Blessings of the Higgs Field」

Once again, Arisa punches Shalltear, this time in the stomach. The armor absorbed a sizable amount of damage. But nevertheless, Shalltear flies through the air and crashes into the third tree that she hits.

The bright light above gets bigger, and much closer.

The nearby trees reach to immobilize her but was easily swatted aside with a swing of her lance.

「Time Accelerator」

Shalltear gets up quickly and charges but was countered by the enemies' more powerful time magic.

「Punishment of the Time Lord 」

Shalltear's movement slows, her sudden charge turned sluggish. She grits her teeth as she curses the magic caster a few yards in front of her. Though the damage she had received is less than what she expected, it has nevertheless hurt her pride to be thrown in an unfavorable position. Seeing the two figures behind her opponents, she doesn't stop her charge.

The light from up above shows its form. An arrow traveling like a shooting star towards the two before her.

Just as her charge is about to be greeted by a giant rock fist, a blast of lightning hits both of their opponents, stunning them. It was Quadracile, Aura's pet Itzamna, its giant chameleon form scurries away from graveyard of dead ents as soon as it stuns its target. Meanwhile Fenn, Aura's Fenrir, hurries toward Shalltear, as if to warn her of the forecoming attack.

"Leave it to me, Shorty!" Her anger turns into a smile. Despite slowed, she can feel her power remains the same. She thrusts her spear on the ground and kicks both of her enemies as hard as she can. Knocking both back into the clearing with their back on the ground. Two 「Shadow-Piercing Arrow」 is shot, immobilizing them on the ground, now in the view of the oncoming arrow of light.

"Oh shit!"

With a raised arm, Shalltear grabs Fenn as the wolf passes by her and rides the holy beast so that they could get out of the blast zone.

A large burst of light fell down from the heavens, exploding on impact.

* * *

Out of Existence

In Yggdrasil, Jacques rarely use 「Soul Tether」 and 「Phase Out」 together. His friends had always had better builds and counter measures. It is not rare for him to mess up the timing, phasing out cancels the skills used by those who are affected when tethered. He isn't that familiar with the skill and thus has not bothered to experiment with it since he came to the New World.

Phasing out of existence is a literal out of body experience. This is the first time Jacques had phased out in the New World. In Yggdrasil, his character just phases out of the game but he retains his sight. He didn't realize just how much different it is in the New World.

There is nothing. Nothing to see, nothing to feel, nothing to hear, nothing to smell. He has no body. It is a state where neither time nor space exists. His memories, thoughts, and feelings melted into one indistinguishable torrent of consciousness. For a moment, he wonders if this is death but the thought is quickly dismissed.

Tethered to each other, Takamura Takao and Takamura Arisa's torrents of consciousness are connected. A flood of thoughts, feelings, insecurities, and regrets reach each other without consent.

 _I shouldn't had asked to play Yggdrasil_

 _I'm sorry I'm useless_

 _I'm sorry I cheated on you_

 _I forgive you_

 _I'm sorry too_

 _I wish we could still see our son grow up_

 _What if we die here?_

 _I won't allow it._

 _I love you._

 _I love you too._

 _We will live._

 _A new life._

 _A better life._

 _Together._

It took both forever and an instant. Everything is laid bare and resolved. There are no words left to be said. From their deepest darkest thoughts to their plan of action once they phase back in the battle. Everything is settled. It's only a matter of putting it into action.

* * *

 **Shalltear II**

It's been no more than five seconds since the fight begun. But the encounter that occurred for the last few seconds are catastrophic. The forest that was once flourishing with wildlife is now a graveyard. Thousands of dead trees litter the ground. Even those who are centuries years old, standing tall, had lived two seconds of sentience only to get blasted by an arrow from heaven or struck down and trampled by god-like beings.

Shalltear summons Einherjar, remembering how her master had lectured to her, Einherjar would attack at close range while she provide magical damage. Judging from her skills, the one in the armor should be weak to fire.

The tethered pair phases in and is greeted by a sight of devastation, waiting for them is a vampire in blood-red armor and a magic golem of bright white that is a spitting image of its summoner.

Quickly, Shalltear's Einherjar charges.

Expecting a surprise attack, they pair quickly evades using combat blink to teleport behind Shalltear, with a punch from Arisa is pushed back towards Einherjar. Unlike regular teleport spells, combat blink and other short-distance teleport spells are patched to not be affected by spells that block teleport so that warp-oriented builds to remain viable in pvp.

"You are strong, stronger than us. But can you defeat yourself? Behold the power of one who manipulates the threads of reality itself." Jacques taunts. It is clear to the pair that they would not be able to beat their opponents. Not with Jacques sub-optimal build and Arisa's avatar's limited moveset. It is clear what their win condition is, _escape alive._

「Quantum Break」

Though in Yggdrasil, it only affects allies, in the new world, all of those in the area are affected. There are now two Jacques, two Arisas, two Shalltears, two Fenns, and two Quadraciles. Neither one nor the other is the original, neither one is a clone. There are now two instances of reality. Usually both cannot exist at the same time, but with the power of quantum sorcerer, it can. If one gets hits, it disintegrates along with the buffs and spells cast. If one deals damage to anyone, it deals double damage but the other disappears.

Arisa hates reality-splitting magic. Whenever she is alone with Takao, she would punch him hard just to make sure that there is only one Takao in the world. To make sure that he isn't somewhere else while she stays by her side. And when Takao does use it, she makes sure to keep the one that stayed by her side. Imagine being with someone one moment, and the next time you meet he holds no memories of your time together but instead he had been somewhere else when you were bonding. Quantum sorcery has some fucked up real-world implications. But nevertheless, it is something that could be useful in a fight.

Shalltear faces herself. Not knowing what type of magic this is, she assumes that this is a spell that forces the target to fight a phantom copy of herself. She resolutely faces her copy. She orders her einherjar to the same to its copy.

It was a quick and decisive fight. Shalltear fires a 「Purifying Javelin」 at the other Shalltear but she manages to block using 「Wall of Stone」. The defending Shalltear casts invisibility and flies upward, avoiding the other one's 「Implosion」 and countering with 「Force Explosion」. The first Shalltear is hit and it disintegrates. Similar battles are resolved all across the field are resolved in one hit.

 _It only took one hit? What a pointless attack._

She turns to her opponents and find themselves duplicated as well, with a pair left behind while the other two fly away.

Frustrated by the tricks her opponent employs, with a burst of speed, she gives chase. "I had enough of your stalling tactics!"

Just as about a wall of thorns is raised, two arrows find their target to the pair in front of her. They both disintegrate.

 _Nice, Aura!_

A quick shadowy figure appears from the trees, with a flick of wrist, a whip catches the pair off-guard and is slammed to the ground.

It was a dark elf child. "Now then, there's nowhere to run. Go Shalltear!"

「Vermillion Nova」

「Paralyzing Shot」

A pillar of fire damages Arisa.

Both Jacques and Arisa have less than half health already. Surrounded by two magical beasts, Einherjar, Aura, and Shalltear. Jacques and Arisa are pelted by magic and skills in every direction. Fire, holy, thunder, status effect, and negative damage. With the Einherjar tanking every effort of resistance, the winner of this encounter is clear.

"HOLD IT! AURA, SHALLTEAR!" It is in the voice that the combatants cannot ignore.

A great black sword came flying down the sky, hitting the ground with a heavy clang. Momon of darkness descends in high speed. The offensive group stops immediately.

"Pando-! Momon?"

"Yes, it is I, Momon of Darkness." He waves his great black sword to the group. "Do, pray tell, why are you all ganging up on these two travelers?"

Aura looks at Shalltear for answers.

"Momon… is it not obvious? They are the enemies of Nazarick. They were responsible for making me point my lance towards our master, Ainz-sama. I absolutely cannot forgive them."

 _Huh? What is this vampire talking about?_

"I trust that you have proof of such claims?"

"Well of course!" Shalltear exclaims. "Not only it's a fact that they are the only ones who are remotely capable of doing so in this world of such a feat thus far. But also they had also managed to gain access to information about my status in Nazarick. It's obvious that they had no other way to know about that information from a brainwashed me."

…

A prolonged silenced. Everyone has their eyes on Shalltear, including Aura. Momon is at a loss for words, it would be more accurate that Momon doesn't have the slightest clue on what the vampire is talking about. Even the two who had been beaten up in the middle can't help but stare in bitter resentment at the bloodthirsty vampire who very nearly killed them on account of mistaken identity.

"You…" Momon searches for the right words. "That is hardly conclusive evidence." Momon would've raised his sword against her if not for the casual tone that the vampire had adapted.

 _So the vampire isn't Momon's archnemesis._

Taken aback, Shalltear defends herself. "It was Shorty who made the first shot. If it weren't for her sending her beasts, I would've escaped the moment an opportunity present itself."

"Hoy Shalltear! Why are you bringing me into this? You were the one who was about to charge in outnumbered!" Aura snaps back at Shalltear.

Thinking that it is safe to turn his back on these two, Momon walks to Jacques and Arisa. They are both lying on the ground, wounded. Momon kneels down and checks on Jacques pulse.

 _Sorry I'm late. Did you two suddenly stop having a will to live or something?_

"And what are you doing here, Momon?" The elf with heterochromic eyes asks.

"What else but performing my role as champion of the people, Aura. These two had committed no crime. This treatment is excessively forceful. I shall take custody of them."

"I see-" Aura replies.

"Wait a minute. Momon." Shalltear directs her killing instinct on Momon, forcing him to face her. "If I remember correctly, Ainz-sama had sent assassins to these two. No, three. One is still out there in hiding. We have no idea what kind of power it possesses. Now then, do tell me, Momon of Darkness. Why would you, someone who has pledged to serve Ainz-sama choose to save these two?"

After a brief silence. Momon laughs. "Is it not obvious, Shalltear?" He asks to attempt to save himself a second of silence to think. "Miscommunication." He raises his finger. "Miscommunication is the crux of many conflicts. In both personal, and professional affairs. Meaning to say. That Ainz-sama who had sent those assassins weren't sent to kill. It is as simple as that."

"Hmm... I never thought of it that way before." Shalltear nods, convinced. Her killing intent quickly dissipates.

Just as Momon attempts to grab Jacques, a slow, booming clap is heard from the darkness.

"Mag-ni-fi-ceeeeent~" A mimic wearing a yellow military uniform emerges from invisibility and points to Momon. "I couldn't have played the part better myself, my lady."

"Pandora's Actor!? Then who is this?" Both Shalltear and Aura looked surprised, then turns their attention to Momon with hostility.

Momon picks up his sword, ready to defend himself. Shalltear, Aura, and the Einherjar raises their weapon as well.

"Unfortunately, this is the part that I ask you to surrender, unless you want to die." Pandora's Actor offers.

Seeing that he has no hope in a fight, Momon drops his swords.

"Oh, the drama! Though it pains me to say that whatever you planned bear no fruit. But take heart dear young lady, know that your plea is not unheard! For Ainz-sama, the one Supreme Being who reigns upon life and death itself, is here with us today and he has heard your words."

On cue, a skeleton wearing the most regal dark cloth lined with purple and gold appears. It is the overlord of death, nobody could mistake the majestic and deathly aura he exhumes. Beside him is a heavily armored black knight holding an axe and a shield, no doubt one of the most capable bodyguards that could tank many powerful hits.

"Ainz-sama!" Seeing their master, Aura and Shalltear present themselves with a hurried bow, uncertain of whether or not they have transgressed the will of their lord.

"What a pitiable state they are in. Truly this is an image befitting the enemies of Nazarick." The black knight says in a surprisingly feminine voice.

With a practiced wave of the hand, Ainz speaks. "That is enough, Albedo. Raise your heads, Aura, Shalltear." He turns to Momon, a bony hand raised toward him. "You are weak, yes. Now tell me, what shall I do with you?" He asks, more to himself than to the party involved.

In truth, this had already devolved into more trouble than what Ainz had intended. They had arrived just after the Momon doppel did. While flying, Pandora's Actor had requested that there be an investigation to the events that conspire first despite Albedo telling him otherwise. Using invisibility, they were able to eavesdrop on the conversation and scout for other parties involved.

* * *

 **Jacques III**

The overlord stood oppressively over the two on the ground. Directing its deathly aura at Hestia. Even if the situation had greatly improved. It would be over at a moment's whim. He looks at the overlord's unchanging face. His red eyes glow in the dark of the night. He can only imagine what goes on in his mind. Thoughts of losing Hestia enters Jacques head. Losing a child is traumatic. The mere thought of losing another had struck fear into his heart. He couldn't risk it. It's just too much for him to risk.

 _The surest way out is to escape._

「Silent Cast: Master of Time」, 「Silent Cast: Time Acceleration」, 「Silent Cast: Electromagnetic Field」

 _I apologize, Mr. Ainz. That our first meeting would be in such a deplorable situation._

In the midst of silence, the magic caster on the ground chants in a hastened voice. The plan is simple. Immobilize everyone, knock the vampire away, tether Hestia, and once we are outside the range of teleportation block, and teleport away.

「Gravity Augment」, 「Extend Magic: Perfect Black Hole」

His finger is pointed down on the ground, a small black orb tunnels underground. While it travels, he stands up quickly. With Master of Time, his time spell can't be countered at the cost of cutting the duration of the spell in half for every counter used.

"Al, I'll count on you to handle things here."

All eyes are on him, many still had their weapons drawn, but time moves too slowly for them to react.

A great tremor shakes the Earth, a gravitational force pulls everyone and everything down to its center. The fallen trees that were devastated in the battle had started rolling towards them. With an electromagnetic field buff, those who are heavily armored suffered worse. Arisa who is already on the ground could not stand even is she wanted. Everyone is immobile, except Jacques. He turns to face Shalltear, who had used the anti-teleportation scroll. She struggles to stand under the pressure of extreme gravitational pull. He points at her with his staff.

Not expecting any resistance left, Ainz was caught off guard but was able to shout to Albedo to use her skill.

「Uber Magic: Force of a Large Hadron Cannon」

From the tip of the Jacques' staff, light is absorbed. The energy from all around the area is being taken in the staff. Everyone could feel that some of the black hole's gravity is absorbed. And in an instant, a small condensed particle of energy is shot at Shalltear.

It is the bane of every Yggdrasil player. It is the one considered to be the magic with the most powerful knockback in the game. By using the right combination of buffs and build, it can throw a player from one end of the map to another. It was dubbed by many players as the _Almighty Push._

「Redirect Magic」

The small ball of energy stops midway, missing its target Shalltear. Compelled by unknown forces, it speeds towards Albedo hitting her in the chest and sent her flying.

His adrenaline pumping, his mind is in a frenzy. Though Jacques brain regularly work his brain to exhaustion, this is the first time he was ever in a position so close to death.

 _What to do? What to do? It didn't go as planned._

His head is instantly soaked with sweat.

 _It was supposed to be Shalltear._ _The one with teleportation block._

Aching.

 _Getting caught now means death._

And then it hits him.

「Tether」

A blue rope-like magic attaches itself to Albedo. He grabs Hestia, who is now in the form of a young red-head beside him.

「Tether: Pull」

The rope-like magic connecting Jacques and Albedo shortens, pulling Jacques and Hestia towards the blown away Albedo. Aura immediately begin to give chase but could not keep up.

Once outside the range of anti-teleportation field, he casts:

「Mass Teleportation」

In that instant, Albedo, Jacques, and Hestia disappears in front of Aura's eyes.

"Noooo! I didn't make it," Aura yells. Anger and frustration enveloping her. Her dichromatic eyes wide and shaking. If it were any other enemy, Aura would not bat an eye. But judging from their fight, it is not an overestimation that they would have the means to take Albedo down when she's alone. Aura punches the tree beside her, breaking it.

 _Tsk._

 _"_ What will we tell Ainz-sama now?"

* * *

 **AN:** Okaaay. I hope the battle wasn't too complicated. My head actually started to hurt writing this (That, or I actually feel am a little sick. Can't tell.). Anyway, I was really planning to end the entire encounter in one chapter but the scenes just played out on my head and it's getting a little long (on my story's standards at least). Next chapter I hope to wrap up the entire first act of the story. I hope the amount of detail in the fight didn't come out as boring or too confusing. There's just so much to keep track of it makes my head hurt. But as always, feedback is greatly appreciated.

 **Edit:** Since there are a lot of questions raised, I decided to edit the entire chapter to add some details that (admittedly) should've been there in the first place. I apologize for those who had to re-read it again, but I still hope you all enjoy the story.


	6. The Party of Strangers V

_THE PARTY OF STRANGERS_

 **Albedo I**

 _I can't stop this knockback._

Albedo flies helplessly towards the direction E-Rantel. Branches and tree trunks break with hardly enough resistance to slow her down. Even when she directed the damage to her armor, she didn't expect to get thrown back so much. Attached to her chest is a long blue cord of magic that extends from the magic caster's own chest. It is the one her beloved Ainz-sama called the Quantum Sorcerer.

The cord contracts. The magic caster is dragged towards her, in his arms a petite human girl. It was the doppelganger that imitated Momon. Pursuing behind them is Aura.

 _Do you plan to take me out while I'm separated? Foolish human. You underestimate me._

She feels her flight breaking. In a moment now, she will jump at her opponent and greet the upstart human with her axe. The mere thought of it had made a mad smile under her helmet. It is a mad malicious smile that would strike fear to anyone who meets its gaze.

 _Anyone who would dare show such disrespect at the presence of her beloved Lord Momonga deserve to be beheaded on the spot. Begone, insolent human._

Albedo raises her axe, in preparation for her attack. Her body slows to a halt, her foot finally finds its footing, ready to pounce.

「Mass Teleportation」

The scenery changes. Though the world is still engulfed in the dark of the night. To Albedo who has a racial class investment on demons who naturally prowl the night, her surroundings remain clear as day. And it is clear that acting recklessly will bring her demise.

They are transported to a large glade of pristine grass, and a small pond in which a couple of dryads are bathing. It is surrounded by enormous ancient trees, the smallest of which are at least five times taller than the average tree than those that can be found in Nazarick. With their sudden appearance, Albedo can feel the trees react. Emitting an ancient, some may call holy, aura oppressively at the intruder. She could tell that these trees are far stronger than the ones littered on the battle near E-Rantel. If there was only one, she is sure that it poses no threat at all. But there is still the fact that she is alone and outnumbered. What's really troubles her is that to her right, she can feel a powerful aura radiating. It is blasphemous to admit, but taking the distance into consideration, a being capable of radiating such an aura would be greater than her beloved master, it may even be comparable with Lord Touch Me's. She bites her lip. This is the exact thing her lord has warned her about. It was the words Ainz had told her and Pandora's Actor while they were discussing the enemies' abilities.

' _Remember, a quantum sorcerer most effective strategy is to separate the party and take people out one at a time. Do not let your guard down at any time. If you ever find yourself separated from everyone, your first priority is to escape.'_

 _Ainz-sama, forgive me for being so weak as to get separated like this._

She looks at her enemy in front of her, and grips her axe and shield tightly. Both the magic caster and red-haired human looking at her, sizing her up. The magic caster then tells the girl to stay back. She has to choose quickly, does she attempt to bulldoze through the weakened magic caster, killing him so that she could make her escape before that thing with the monstrous aura get here? Or does she attempt to escape to the opposite direction of the aura, but deal with a quantum sorcerer chasing her?

Given what she has heard about the ability of the magic caster, the answer is obvious.

"I mean you no harm. We only-"

Preparing to strike a killing blow, she leaps in to stun the magic caster and use one of her most powerful skills to defeat him quickly. The moment she leaps to attack, the surrounding trees moved, aiming spear-like roots at Albedo. The dryads escape with horror in their eyes, screaming. Their bodies dispersing in the wind.

「Blast of Antimatter」

「Magic Parry」

The black ball of energy is swatted aside by Albedo's shield—the ball hits one of the trees, making it spasm in pain with its roots and branches flailing wildly about. Making it hit its neighboring trees as it wail.

"Sorry Ashtrunk!" Jacques winces.

"Where do you think you're looking at?"

「Stunning Blow」

Albedo bashes her shield at Jacques face, stunning him, and making him cough out blood. His face is smashed, bruised, cut, and blackened from getting beat up by Shalltear and Aura. It should only make one more attack to defeat him for good.

Jacques falls down with Albedo on top of him. A mass of spear-roots that couldn't keep up with Albedo's speed trails behind her. She lifts up her axe purposely. Allowing it a moment to gather the energy to use its skill.

「HEADSMAN'S-」

"STOP IT ALBEDO!" It was Ainz's voice ringing inside her head.

「-axe」?

It's too late. She had already started using her skill. This lowly human is going to lose his head and die by the headman's axe. Everyone watching can see it. Her skill had already started and had chosen its target. She could not stop herself even if she wanted to. Even if she attempts to stop it, the execution would be sloppy, but it remains an execution nonetheless. It would be the end of this lowly human—the enemy. That is why she could not understand. Why would her beloved master stop her?

No. Ainz isn't even here. How could he even be? She didn't receive a 「Message」. That was not her master, that couldn't be her master. She's intellectually certain. But her doubts of potentially disobeying her master's call dampers her spirit during her act.

Her right hand falls. Unenthusiastically. Albedo's mind is somewhere else. But true to its purpose, the blade of her axe follows a line that will cut through the target's neck. It is an attack that gets more powerful when the enemy is low on health. In other words, it is a skill designed kill.

「Active Skill: Parry」

A familiar black shield smashes at Albedo's axe inches away from the human's neck. Her arm is thrown back and her back is hit by a mass of wooden spears, throwing her off the magic caster. Her armor partially breaks, revealing red clothing underneath. Her armor had protected her getting pierced from the back while vulnerable.

She dislikes how easily her armor breaks. Not that it has broken before. But nevertheless, to be stripped of armor during the course of a battle is not something she had ever looked forward to. It is distracting even to her.

Looking at her opponents, that red-haired human had transformed into her and used her own skill against her. With her mind less muddled, she realizes that the voice of her master that she heard is a skill of her enemy.

"You…" Her voice is soft, yet an unmistakable malice radiates from her. "Shapeshifter…" Her breathe gets heavy and labored. "HOW DARE YOU USE AINZ-SAMA'S VOICE AGAINST ME!?" Her malicious aura explodes, directing it to the black knight that is standing in front of the wizard standing up. "Mark my words, I will kill you insolent-"

Though Albedo is incredibly tempted to finish them off right now, she is not so stupid as to keep on fighting in enemy territory. She only intends to threaten them and escape. Her beloved master had already cautioned her of such a scenario, it would be a grave sin for her if she would stay to fight. However, she realizes her mistake too late. The overwhelming aura she felt when she was teleported here is suddenly behind her.

"Who do you think you are threatening my family, bitch."

Quickly, Albedo turns around but is unable to react to the sudden attack.

「Embrace of the Goddess of Thorns」

A multitude of spear-like vines sprout from the earth beneath Albedo. It is much faster and much harder than any of the similar attacks she had seen so far. The vines that the skill summoned bore through her body. First, a vine pierces through her planted foot wrapping itself on her leg once it exits the other end. Once she's immobilized, she is an easy target.

A total of eleven vines had pierced her. Two for each limb, one for each extremity—the rest, scattered all over her body. Once pierced, the vines extends its thorns. Embedding itself in Albedo's flesh, wrapping itself on her.

Albedo almost shrieked in pain at the sudden assault. This overwhelming aura is unnatural. It's unfair. She is bound, disabled, outnumbered, out powered, and alone in a hostile territory. This could not get any worse for her.

Her attacker green-skinned woman with an immaculate figure. She wears an armor-robe hybrid with an elaborately decorated golden breastplate lined with an elegant white cloth that covers the rest of her upper body. Her face is covered by a similarly-colored helm with shoulder-length purple hair dropping off the back. Her body is covered in a giant lotus from the waist down similar to that like a skirt. In her arms is a halberd with a shaft decorated with intricate magic symbols. Radiating from her is an overwhelmingly thick aura of life. Even to Albedo, one who serves the Supreme Beings, would be hard-pressed to deny that the being in front of her to equal and even surpass the power of the supreme beings.

「The Hand That Lifts The World」 is a buff unique to Spawn of The World Tree with effects comparable to that of the most powerful guild weapon made. Due to the requirements of the class Spawn of the World Tree class, they are inexplicably tied to Player Homes that are in areas where there is little to no conflict. It would not be inaccurate to say that it is a buff that is primarily cosmetic since most PvP happens outside these areas. With the exception of World Items, it is the most powerful player home buff in the game.

There are two primary reasons for the existence of Player Home Buffs; first is that it guarantees the safety of the items of the player since item drops are disabled and experience in player kills are halved, there is practically no incentive for players to fight in these areas, second, if a player do choose to specifically harass people in player homes, player home buffs enable weaker players to fight back against invaders who ran the risk of dropping their gear. Simply put, Player Homes are a no-risk, no-reward area for those people who simply want respite from the PvP and PvE.

"I ReFuSE! THiS CaNnOT HaPpEN! AiNZ-SAMa WiLl RAiN DOwN HiS FuRY FoR WHaT YoU'Ve DoNe. YoU CaNnOT DeFeAT ThE FoRCeS OF NaZArICK YoU INSoLeNT FOoLS!" It was a maddened cry. Albedo struggles to break free from the blood-soaked vines binding her.

The woman looks at her with anger in her eyes, but she remains standing in place. The Great Ents that surrounded the area had also stood frozen, a couple of dryad heads peek from behind them. It was a deep voice of a man from behind them that broke the silence.

"Please stop that. You are giving a bad impression of the Sorcerous Kingdom, Prime Minister Albedo."

「Schrodinger's Box」

A great white box appears and closes on Albedo. The vines that hold her in place disappears. It is dark. There is no light. Only pitch black darkness. Not even her enhanced senses could see anything. Not that there's anything to see. Schrodinger's Box completely cuts off anyone inside from the outside world. Neither light nor sound could reach her, it would be more accurate that the box contains its own pocket dimension. Even if one where to attempt to teleport from inside-out, they would only find themselves back in. Similarly, the box also blocks out all types of information-gathering and divination spells from both inside and out. What it does is all damage given to the box are redirected to the target with three times more damage on the condition that if the target survives the ordeal, ¾ the damage she received inside the box is healed. This is a skill designed to kill. Her master had emphasized that much during their discussion in E-Rantel. Like the _almighty push_ she has tanked before, this skill too had been given its own nickname.

 _The Kill Box_.

To do nothing here is to invite death. Thankfully, her master had already told her the counter to this.

「Stasis」

With stasis, she will freeze herself in time so that it will nullify all incoming damage.

Time stops.

The box opens, and she is greeted by the sight of the magic caster in front of her. Casting a magic she had only seen her beloved master do: Super-Tier Magic. A thick layer of blue magic runes fill her vision.

While in the box she had already made up her mind. The only way to out is to use her world item, _Ginunggugap_. However, using it would require time to start-up. For the enemy to use super-tier magic in a position so close and in the open is a fatal mistake. It takes a long time to charge such an attack. There isn't even anyone guarding him.

She leaps forward to interrupt his spell, casting defensive skills so that she tanks whatever hidden attack they have prepared for her. To her surprise, nobody tried to stop her. She swings her axe at the magic caster's head and it fades away.

 _It was an illusion!?_

She can feel the magic building up, the super-tier magic isn't cancelled. She looks at her back and sees the person at the center. The magic caster was flying above her the whole time. In position under the magic caster is the woman with tremendous aura, the doppel, and another copy of the magic caster who is already casting a different spell.

「Hold Time」

The other magic caster make a gripping motion. And she couldn't move. Her time had stopped once again, this time involuntarily.

The other two doesn't make any moves. But there is no doubt that if she breaks free, they will. She can feel the Super-tier magic reaching maturity. She grits her teeth. Her time-stop counters aren't working.

And then, the spell is released. The super-tier magic that everyone decided to use and wait for!

The atmosphere turns black. The image of a lamb's head flashes disturbingly on Albedo's vision. As if its neck is getting cut, a bright red line slowly crosses the goat's neck. It was slow and agonizing. The feeling of helplessness envelops Albedo's entire being. Her mind is plagued by weakness, she is weak, weakened to the point that she would be no more powerful than a lowly limping human. It was torture.

 _Stop it!_

The bright red line is now a third of a way towards the other end of the neck.

 _End it! Please!_

A plague of curses torment her. The red line is halfway the neck.

 _I want to die!_

Her head wants to explode. The red line reaches two thirds of the way.

 _Just kill me! Please!_

The red line reaches the other end of the goat's neck.

 _It is maddening, maddening! End it please! I don't want any of these!_

「Silence of the Lamb」

All the curses that had built up on her head shocks her entire body. Her eyes wide, she drops to the ground, her body quaking as she curls up into a ball.

"Ainz-sama… Help me… I don't want this anymore. I'M SCARED! AINZ-SAMA! MOMONGA-SAMA! … Save me… Anyone? Momonga-sama… Please… Save me."

* * *

 **Jacques IV**

「Silence of the Lamb」 is cast. A large concentration of Magical Energy is foisted at Albedo. Nothing happens. For a moment, Jacques fears that his skill had failed. But a second later, everyone present can attest that it did work. It worked too well.

Silence of the Lamb is a powerful skill in PvE against bosses. It is a single target Super-Tier spell that decreases the target's defense by 80%, silences the target, and it temporarily removes the target's Fear resistance and nullification all the while casting despair. While in effect, debuff duration is extended while buffs are dispelled. It is considered to be very weak in PvP since out of all the known Super-Tier set up spells, this is the only one that is single target and its effects that the only way to be used effectively is by a team of players attacking a single target.

Albedo falls, her body shaking in fear. Crying out. Curling into a ball. It was a pitiful sight. No, a horrific sight. The one who had very nearly killed them just a few seconds before are reduced into some lunatic shrieking in madness.

"MAKE IT STOP!" Its piercing cries echo in the woods. That's right, even if one wishes to acknowledge that thing as a woman. One could be forgiven if one's first instinct is to call it a thing. That thing is rolling in the ground, suffering mental torture unknown to its spectators. One could not imagine what manner of torment that thing is experiencing. It is a thing driven only by mad despair. Jacques makes a mental note to put it on the list of spells he won't use again.

In Yggdrasil, Silence of the Lamb is visually unimpressive and simple skill. A disturbing image of a lamb is superimposed on the target's avatar for a little less than second. It is an image that didn't appear here. Originally, the pre-planned strategy was to cast Silence of the Lamb and then follow up with stun so that Jacques may teleport her to the ocean without much trouble but its clear that everyone was far too stunned at just how potent the spell was that attacking her now feels too cruel. Even if she did just attempted to kill them. The sight is so sickening that almost everyone is tempted to avert their gaze.

Though it would appear that Albedo is thoroughly beaten, the truth of the matter is that her health is still around 70%. More than enough to be a threat once she recovers from the skill. And the clock is ticking.

"I'll go teleport her to the beach. I'll see to it she recovers from this... thing. Same place." The Jacques that used 「Hold Time」 declared, realizing that time is of the essence. "We can't risk the Sorcerer King find this place. Hurry up."

Since neither Hold Time nor Silence of the Lamb deals any damage to the enemy, both Jacques from his reality split remained. Everyone nods. Jacques tethers himself to Albedo and teleports away.

"Then, I'll go see if I can calm the Sorcerer King down." The woman with the Halberd says. She turns to the Great Ents and the dryads that were left staring in fear at the sudden events. "Sorry for the sudden excitement everyone. I hope nobody got hurt. Silkie, Leviae, could you heal Jacques for a bit? There's something I gotta do right now."

A cacophony of responses and questions, many are understandably worried of the sudden events.

"Yes, Anita-sama."

The two dryads who were hiding behind the came forward to heal Jacques wounds. A nymph who was hiding below in the pond joins in and helps.

"Here you go, Jacques-sama." The three spirits casts healing spells. Silkie, the older dryad asks what's on everybody's minds. "What was that?"

"Thank you…" Jacques whispers, tired and thankful that he had not lost his life from the previous battles. After thinking about what he should answer these spirits of the forest, he answers. He looks at Hestia and sees that she's already trying to calm down the Great Ents in the forest. "First contact."

Even with the dryads' and the nymph's magic combined their mid and low-level healing magic can only do so much. But it is enough to get Jacques health off being dangerously near death. He stands up and bows to his healers. "Thank you. Could you heal Ashtrunk too? That one was my fault." He waves to the old tree with a massive scar, he looks dejected. Jacques can only be glad that his spell didn't completely obliterate him. Something like that would weigh heavily on his conscience.

The spirits obey, they tell Jacques to be more careful next time. The younger dryad, Leviae, even joked not to bring anything dangerous again. Of course, everybody knows that it was serious. Everyone makes an effort to laugh anyway.

Not wanting to promise anything that he may not be able to do, he bids them goodbye and teleports away.

 _I'm sorry I can't promise that now._

The entire situation hangs heavy in Jacques' heart.

Jacques teleports to the roof of Jircniv's Palace where nobody from below would be able to notice him. The Baharuth Empire is allied with the Sorcerer Kingdom. They would think twice in suddenly nuking this place, at least they should. Frankly, he isn't sure anymore. Seeing both Shalltear and Albedo being so unreasonable had shaken his courage to confront the Sorcerer King. Judging from their devotion to the King, they both must be NPC. His only hope now is that the King is more reasonable than them.

「Message」

" _Your Majesty Ainz Ooal Gown. I am the sorcerer known as Jean-Jacques Roseau who had an unfortunate encounter with your subjects. Prime Minister Albedo is safe and I will disclose her location. I wish only that whatever conflict we have be resolved peacefully. Me and my party was suddenly attacked and I would like the opportunity to prove ourselves innocent of whatever crime we may be accused of. I request a fair trial in court."_

* * *

AN: After careful mental deliberation, for the LAST TIME, I'm settling the issue about the title since people are getting confused. It's going to be Machinations of a Forlorn Conspiracy instead of Sorcerer King Suzuki and the Beleaguered Professor.


	7. New Players of the Great Game I

_NEW PLAYERS OF THE GREAT GAME_

 **Jacques IV**

"Arisa." Jacques opens his eyes from bed with his wife's name at the tip of his tongue with a nightmare still vivid in his eyes. Instinctively, his hand attempts to grab the other side of the bed, finding nothing but air.

 _That's right. She's not here. She was taken by the Sorcerer King as prisoner._

It's been nearly over a year since they've transported to the New World. This is his first time sleeping in the Player Home without his wife.

 _Is this how you've have felt when I was gone?_

When they first arrived in the New World, the first thing he did was leave. He was angry, paranoid, and guilt-ridden. He has work that needs to be done back in Earth.

The life and society Takamura Takao grew to know is grim, fake, and miserable. He was one of the few professors who came into academia an idealist. Only to find that the education system to be rotting in its commercialization and degradation, reduced to a place where the rich teach their kids how to exploit the masses. His spirit faltered. It was the world of post-truth. A society built on lies and exploitation. An insane society crumbling upon itself where even those on the top are ideologically blind and directionless, oblivious as to how the corrupt system perpetuates itself. He knew the world needs to change. Knowing full well that it is only due to his privileged position that he is afforded him the means to give a damn about the world anymore, he embraces it. Even if it breaks him time and time again, emotionally, spiritually, and intellectually. But he refuses to stay down. He was a madman in pursuit of a goal.

For every mistake he makes, he learns. Over the mistake of others, he learns. Eventually, he is able to learn before the mistake, and thus, avoid it. Over time, his contacts and influence begins to spread. From scientists, he learned the science. From intellectuals, he learned humanities, from the masses he learned the inhumane horror that is their everyday life, and from the resistance he learned the ways of subterfuge needed to survive. He dedicated his life to find a way to make society better, with society as it is, it was a miracle to even think of a way to make it a tiny bit better.

He grew to be a professor of great renown among intellectual circles, he is both a historian and philosopher. He is also fairly influential in the resistance that seek to change the mega-corporate governance that rule the world. His writings were highly regarded and those that he dared not publish are passed around underground networks under a pseudonym. Even officials who sympathize with the cause come to him for advice.

It was not an easy life. If it weren't for his family, friends, and comrades then he would've already been assassinated. And even if he were to meet his end that way, he would've died knowing he never gave up on the world. He wouldn't mind dying that way…

But this… To have the player known as HailS_tan66six transported to another world is torture. If there really is a god then this would be his most cruel joke he could play.

All of his life's work. His friends, comrades, and even his seven year old son. Everything they've been working on. The people important to him. It was all taken from him, all just for logging on to a game he didn't play for in at least eight years. Everything is gone, just like that.

Sent to an unknown world in a body not of his own. With powers he barely remembers. Taken from a life he worked so hard for.

He grew paranoid. Ever since the introduction of DMMORPG, there had been great debates and talk in the academic community of whether or not the 21st Century classic "The Matrix" is the future the world is heading to (but instead of robots, it would be humans in control). And though it is technologically possible to simulate such a world, it would require too much resources to be practical even for experimentation. At least, that's what their inside person had told them.

He began experimenting with the new world he found himself in. Trying to interact with it in ways that he thinks the developers of the world wouldn't think of him doing. Looking for any sign that this is all a simulation. Though he stood out as an oddball in the human cities he found himself, his god-like powers easily allowed him to escape any trouble he found himself in. He fooled around in his despair but making sure not to attract the attention of authorities. Never making a show for himself, he always kept a low profile. He had learned that not long after of a war, no, a massacre of 200,000 soldiers under the hands of a powerful undead king in the nearby nation. It was the wake up call he needed back then.

Jacques is in the player home 400 meters above ground. It is a mid-sized house with all the basic facilities you would expect from a regular house with the exception of a large central hub that is directly connected to the Yggdrasil sapling. The Yggdrasil sapling towers at more than 600 meters in height and at least 50 meters in width, more than doubling the size of the largest trees below it.

He exits the bedroom and enters the central hub. It was a room that is directly connected to the Yggdrasil sapling. In the middle of the room is a green-skinned woman with a flower as a skirt. Attached to her is an assemble of roots that functions like a chord connecting her to the tree. Her name is Takamura Arisa. Her body is in deep sleep. Her consciousness is elsewhere. A prisoner of the Ainz Ooal Gown. That is part of the deal.

In order for his request for the trial to be granted, the Sorcerer King had laid out some conditions. Some of which, he could not accept and had to be negotiated with. But the agreement are as follows:

1\. The prime minister of Sorcerous Kingdom, Albedo, is safe and is under no mind control effects

2\. No harm will come to both parties before and during the trial

3\. The trial shall be held in the Great Tomb of Nazarick with teleportation blocked

4\. The trial will be held the day after today

5\. The sorcerer king will be allowed to look into the memories of those in trial on the condition that the memories would not be manipulated

6\. Arisa would be taken into Ainz Ooal Gown's custody before the trial

7\. The party will relinquish all world items in their possession

8\. Dishonesty and deviance from the agreement by those in trial will result in death

When Jacques first heard these conditions, he was quite baffled. He didn't think that the Sorcerer King would be as meticulous as he had witnessed. There's something that is also off. It started when the Sorcerer King started discussing the matter of world items. Jacques didn't even know what World Items are other than it's a higher than divine class items but nevertheless, he agrees. They don't have any world items anyway. But what worried him is that the Sorcerer King acts too on guard. Arisa can match 3 or 4 regular level 100 NPCs with roleplay builds with her insane player home buff but if what she said about the guild is true, then they are nowhere near a threat to Nazarick.

Jacques sighs.

He approaches Arisa and caresses her sleeping face. This is not the face of the woman he married. Though he must admit that if one were to look past her green-skin and inhuman parts, the form before him is superior in beauty than the one she used to have. He plants a kiss on her cheek and places his hand on her belly that is covered only in a pure white cloth. It's barely noticeable, but a small hump had already formed.

 _It grew faster than expected._

While caressing it, he wonders for a moment what he can say now. Only to be interrupted by a raven-haired young girl. "Pa, I don't think it's appropriate to touch someone while they sleep." It was Hestia.

Jacques laughs, it would've been endearing if she didn't say it so seriously. "Hes, she's my wife." Though she's good at roleplaying as other people, she's always been pretty straightforward and deadpan when it comes to normal conversations.

She sits down on one of the chairs in the central hub, carrying one of the books Jacques had imported from Earth in his time as a player.

"Hes, we've got a lot to do today. Prepare for the council."

He leaves the room and dons in his best equipment. It's not as impressive compared to those worn by the Sorcerer King and his subjects, but compared to everybody else, nothing can compare to the Tesseract Staff, and his silver magic robes.

He recounts the days when he first arrived in the New World, asking himself whether or not he had made a misstep.

It took half a week for Takao to get over his shock of getting dragged into the new world, and the other half in reconciliation with his wife. There is one thing in particular that weighs heavy on their minds.

Takamura Arisa is now a plant, and her spirit is bound to a giant tree.

Like dryads, she can communicate with the trees and animals. She can use 「Forest Stride」 to instantly take a hundred meter step from one tree to another within her domain. But also like Dryads, she cannot go too far from her tree and thus bound to the dense forest surrounding it. Not only is she no longer human, there is simply no way for her to travel or change location.

Though she didn't want him to leave her, she has no choice. She is left with only Hestia, the NPC she created. She has no personality, she didn't bother giving her a backstory when she created her. She was just there. A blank slate who needed to be taught everything.

Takao took the name of a philosopher, Jean-Jacques Roseau and started to travel to learn of the world around them to find a way to send them back. He learned the written language, studied it, and practiced it. While Takao is out, she had made it her mission to educate Hestia simply because she has nothing else to do but be ridden with guilt.

When he returns, he would tell her of what he had witnessed, bringing home books, scrolls, and maps to make sense of the politics, geography, and the rules of the world. After a month had passed, Jacques had already learned how to read and write in the local language and had established some trusted contacts.

It was at this point that Jacques determines that the Sorcerous Kingdom is the only thing that could actually threaten them and thus he tries to avoid any contact to it, at least until they are sure it's safe.

Growing attached to Hestia, Arisa began to care for her as if she was her child and asks Jacques to adopt her. Jacques was hesitant, he did not want her to replace the child they lost, in fact she could not. But after thinking it through, he accepts. In order to teach her about the world and people, they agreed to let Jacques take her on his travels.

A week more had passed and Jacques travels had started taking longer. Without Hestia to keep her occupied, she turns her attention to the forests around her. It was only then that she noticed that the trees below her had suddenly gotten much bigger.

The last time she explored the forest is in a state of fright, guilt, and grave sadness. Unbeknownst to her, the godly aura she radiates had frightened many of the spirits and creatures residing here. But now that her despair had subsided, her aura invigorated and nourished the local spirits and creatures of the forest. As she descended from the Yggdrasil sapling, she is met with a Forest Spirit Matron, one that is powerful in her own right.

The matron presents herself as the guardian of the forest and offers herself to the goddess that descended upon them.

The same spirit matron that Jacques needs to call upon today. And so he does.

"Arduinna."

With a gust of wind, a forest spirit in the form of voluptuous woman materializes in front of Jacques. Her gaze is expectant.

"Has everyone been notified of the council?"

"I had ask them all to send a representative. As you had instructed." The spirit's glare remains fixed on the sorcerer.

"What is it? Speak your mind."

The spirit pauses. As if debating whether or not she will do as she is told. "Though I risk offending Arisa-sama, I can't help but question why a human like Jacques-sama are so favored by Arisa-sama. Though you are undeniably powerful, you've not done anything for this forest to earn you of your status."

"That's…"

 _Not a lie._

After a couple of odd seconds in thought. He answers. "I will get back to you on that. But as of now, we have things we must do first." He couldn't look at the matron straight in the eye. Instead, he bows his head with a hint of shame. Accepting of the accusation posed on him.

Adruinna nods in understanding and fades into the forest winds.

"Forest Spirit Matron huh? At least one of us had earned one's position." He makes a sad smile as he praise the spirit that just left.

 _Whelp. No point in regretting it all now..._

It was a month and a half pass since their arrival in the new world that they slowly started to accepted that there may not be any way to go back to Earth. Jacques remained determined. He started to study magic intensely. Trying to look for anything that would help them overcome Arisa's inability to leave the forest. As someone who advocates science, he refused to believe that the laws of magic the New World is completely identical to the magic system in Yggdrasil—the existence of wild magic is proof of that. He looks to the newly developed spells, like 「Floating Board」, and even interviews some of its creators in order to learn more about magic. After two and a half months of studying magic, he is able to create his very first created spell: _Conjure Rats_.

With now having a grasp of magic theory, he studies the world's history. He went in-depth with all history about the 6 great gods, 7 greed kings, and 13 heroes, determining them to be players. It is at this point that he began paying closer attention to the guild of Ainz Ooal Gown and what he assumed to be an ongoing conflict between a splinter group headed by the demon lord Jaldabaoth and the Sorcerous Kingdom of Ainz Ooal Gown. He concluded that while the war in the Holy Kingdom is ongoing, it's far too dangerous to get involved in a civil war from such a powerful guild so he decided to stay under the radar and track down anyone from the 13 Heroes, who are most likely to be alive. Otherwise, he would settle with tracking other Godkin.

It took him two months, but eventually he was able to track a companion of the 13 Heroes, and under the condition of anonymity, was willing to trade information and discuss with her many things. Among the things he had learned is that one of the heroes is a powerful dragon that is able to control a suit of armor remotely from afar. That is exactly what he needed. Though it took some coaxing, he was able to convince his contact to tell him enough about the dragon that he feels it's possible to develop something similar to the ability.

He returns to Arisa, who for a few months now had been called and revered as a goddess under the name of Arisa by the forest spirits and monsters. He didn't realize it then, but Arisa had started to become endeared to the inhabitants of the forest which she had raised, develop, and took care of while her husband and now daughter Hestia has gone.

For six months, they studied, trained, and attempt to develop the skill. Jacques was able to attach _remote viewing_ to his 「Conjure Rats」, and Arisa finally found a way to remote control a suit of armor in her own unique way and she can finally see what is beyond the forest. Thinking that entering the Sorcerous Kingdom would be as good a time as any, the trio cautiously headed for the Sorcerous Kingdom. If there were anyone who would be able to understand and help them on their plight, it would be fellow players. Or so they thought.

Yesterday, they arrive in the Sorcerous Kingdom. Their first night in the Sorcerous Kingdom is a disaster.

And now, he has to warn the residents of the forest the potential danger that they had brought so that the others may avoid it entirely.

The council is in session. Its participants are seated in a circle in a large clearing, the same one where the encounter with Albedo took place. 5 nature spirits, 3 hobgoblin chieftains with dire wolf mounts, a troll who also represents the ogres, a spriggan, a naga, an aerial, the surrounding ents, Hestia, Jacques, and the Forest Spirit Matron.

The Forest Spirit Matron, the one who is agreed to preside over the meeting, speaks with an almost parental authority. "I am glad all of you were able to come to this meeting in such a short notice. I had the situation explained by the spirits and ents to you before the council. But before we go to the meat of the matter." She looks to the largest and the most stubborn of the hobgoblin chiefs, Gobzilla, who looks distractingly infuriated and out of focus. "It seems that some catching up is in order. Barring our agenda today, what ails your minds?"

Everybody was mostly silent. Most of those who show any sign of discomfort report there is nothing else, except Gobzilla who almost shouted with tears in his eyes.

"Just yesterday, a lone adventurer killed 52 of my tribe and a dozen of our wolves." He stomps his feet on the ground. "I was able to kill the damn thing. But it is not enough. I want to avenge my brethren. There's only 10 of us left." His shout muted to a plea. "The council was made so that we help each other right? Then help us get our revenge."

Everyone looked at him as if he was crazy. Some are even questioning whether or not the hobgoblin chief should even be here. The other hobgoblin chief, Tengen, intervenes. "See where your brutish ways had led you. After having the gall to rudely decline the Forest Goddess' proposition of making one single goblin village, you would dare ask us of this?"

The goblin chief shaman beside him, Myo, adds in "You embarrass us goblins, Gobzilla. We are amongst the presence of the Forest Spirit Matron and the Great Forest Goddess' Intimate."

 _Were the goblins always this lively? These goblins are certainly smarter than any that I've seen._

Jacques takes a look at the others on the council. All the monsters look a tad bit more intelligent than from what he has seen everywhere else. The upstart hobgoblin had already been given a proper scolding.

Gobzilla grits his teeth. "Then, as much as it hurts my pride to admit. Then how about if we can join into one goblin tribe?"

 _Arisa, is this what you've been taking care of while I was gone?_

At this point, even the Troll and the Spriggan had joined in the discussion. Though its mostly scolding the goblins, one of the nymphs had opened up the idea of having one big forest alliance under the guidance of Great Forest Goddess Arisa.

 _A nation of the forest's inhabitants. That actually sounds like a nice idea. I was so engrossed in what's happening outside that I didn't notice just how much those who are near me had grown._

The discussion was lively and there were those with reservations, but that is only expected.

 _It's a shame really. This could've been the civilization that I've searched so hard for... I realize too late. But there really is a problem that must be addressed first._

Jacques makes a telling glance at Arduinna, who understood it immediately. She breaks up the conversation. "As glad as I am to see everyone willing to discuss a future together. I would like to proceed to the point of this meeting. As you may have heard, a new threat approaches the forest. Though just to make sure we're on the same page. I would have Jacques-sama explain the situation to everyone."

Everyone looks to Jacques.

"Thank you, Arduinna." Jacques turns to everyone at the table. He takes a deep breath, and he talks about the events that transpired with the Sorcerous Kingdom. He makes it a point to tell them that in the case that they make enemies of the nation, that everyone should escape while they can. With a bow, he apologizes to everyone in the council knowing full well that they could only do so much when the Sorcerous Kingdom decides they want them dead. He dragged them into this. If the forest gets attacked by the Sorcerous Kingdom since Arisa's real body is here, then the loss of all their lives will be on his name. He won't be able to live with that. He wouldn't be able to rest in death knowing that. He just barely avoids tearing up. Everything he worked so hard for. A lifetime of his work was taken from him. That alone was traumatic enough. And now that he was finally able to accept that they are now living in another world, now that he has finally found something he wishes to live for, it could all just be destroyed in an instant. He didn't realize just how much he was holding in until everything threatened to come gushing out. He was scared and it shows. That much he could no longer deny. His voice cracks as he explains just how very little they can do against the Sorcerous Kingdom.

The only reason that he survived his encounter with Albedo is because both the great ents and Hestia were helping him. And the only reason they come out on top of that encounter with no casualty is because they have already made a pre-planned strategy. A plan to completely disable the opponent without doing any damage to the surroundings. Even the infamous gank skill, 「Schrodinger Box」 was used as a mere anti-divination and setup tool. He had never been so close to death than that day. An entire year with hardly any danger had made him unprepared for a brush with death the night they arrived in the Sorcerous Kingdom.

Everyone is silent. Not everyone in the council had a positive opinion of him, yet no one dared to speak a word. The man in front of them is a being with god-like powers, second only to the Great Forest Goddess. If there is such a being that could threaten the gods' lives, then what can lowly spirits and monsters do? Jacques had always been a stoic. Very serious. Almost never smiling. In the few times that he decided to help out in the forest, he was like an oracle. Wise, all-knowing, but his gaze always so far out of reach. Only the Great Goddess and their offspring could elicit a response resembling anything vaguely human. He has the power to manipulate reality itself, everyone here had already seen it with their own eyes. Even with all their powers combined they wouldn't stand a chance against him. What more can they do against something that would push him to this point?

"Jacques-sama…" Lilaia, a naiad who had a particular liking to the sorcerer, attempts to lift the atmosphere but was soon drowned by the silence.

Jacques bows his head and apologizes. "If no word comes from us in two days, then please evacuate. And for those that can't. I apologize once again. Please do all you can so that you may survive. That is what Arisa would want."

It was a disgusting sight. The man who stands at the level of gods bowing to lesser mortals. Though the spirits do understand Jacques intentions, it will send the wrong message to the monsters. Jacques is no leader. He lacks the charisma nor the willingness to stand above others who are lesser than him. He would rather treat everyone as equals. If he could not consider them as equal, then they simply pass under his radar. That is what Lilaia had realized as she observed him on the many occasions throughout the year. That is his fatal flaw. That is what she also found so interesting about Jacques.

That is why, before he loses the trust of everyone here, she has to act.

"Jacques-sama. You say that there is no telling what could happen. Then, it is also possible that we may not meet such ends?" Lilaia asks, breaking the silence. Her aquatic form rising above others.

Jacques lifts his head. "Yes. That much is true."

"Then, would thy heed our request? Make it so that such fears would be unnecessary in the first place."

As if just realizing his effect on the rest of the group, he makes an effort to renew his vigor. "Aye. That I will. I will make sure that such fears would be unnecessary."

 _Thank you, Lilaia._

As if to affirm himself, he stands. "I will see to it that everyone here will not suffer the wrath of Ainz Ooal Gown."

He excuses himself, realizing he has done enough damage. He couldn't get any lower than that. He exchange glances with Arduinna, and she bows at him, but her face makes the message is clear: _we'll handle things here._

Jacques leaves the council prematurely, on the excuse that he needs to prepare for his encounter with Ainz Ooal Gown.

 _He fucked up. He is by no means incompetent. And he is not so stupid as to not realize what he did wrong. Now, he has all the more reason not to mess this up._

"I should've assured them instead of apologizing." He sighs. "This is why they say I'm a better adviser than a leader." He makes a motion like puffing a cigarette, wishing for a moment that there are cigarettes in this world to relieve his stress.

"Ainz Ooal Gown." He throws away his imaginary cigarette.

"I will not let you hurt any of these people."

* * *

AN: Surprise. It's a full on OC backstory and perspective. I know there are a good number of you doesn't like OC but its integral to the story. I don't want to always be explaining about the why's and the how's and why's for every action they do from here onwards so I hope you bear with it if you don't find it particularly interesting. Next chapter we will have one more centered from Nazarick's perspective.

PS: Well, I was planning to put things off until next chapter. But since there seems to be many people who think that Jacques somehow has Albedo, she is already back in Ainz's side. They don't really have any means to keep her from Nazarick even if they want to (which they don't. Seriously, why would they? She's scary as heck). As to her condition and what happened specifically, you'll have to wait for next chapter.


	8. New Players of the Great Game II

_NEW PLAYERS OF THE GREAT GAME_

 **Demiurge I**

Demiurge fixes his glasses, ready to take on the task assigned to him by his master. He reviews the information he has gathered and would have it confirmed. He has gathered the guardians and everyone involved in the incident.

"Let me summarize what I have gathered." His eyes makes a quick scan of the report he had been given. "Pandora's Actor first made contact with the party as Momon. He successfully plants a shadow demon on the magic caster, but later finds out and manages to lose it with some ability. Realizing that Ainz-sama had caught wind of them and have sent a team of Eight-Edge Assassins, the party fled E-Rantel."

He looks to everyone present, there seems to be no contradiction.

"Normally, fleeing would be expected. However, as Shalltear had previously said, the Eight-Edge Assassin should've posed no threat to them. That is why it is suspicious."

"Objection!" a quick hand raises itself from the back. It was Pandora's Actor.

It is a generally held belief that the Supreme Beings tend to pass on their will to their creations. That is why Demiurge, despite being renowned as one of the greatest intellectuals of Nazarick, pays special attention to him. If Demiurge is even going to take a step closer to even fathom Ainz-sama's unlimited unfathomable wisdom, he would have to understand Pandora's Actor first. However…

Pandora's Actor makes a playful wave of a hand, sometimes it's hard to determine how serious he is. "I, for one, believes that there is merit to the story that they were simply afraid for the safety of the doppelganger child."

"Huh?" Albedo's angelic voice reverberated with hostility. "Are you saying that such impudent actions against Ainz-sama are excusable just because of that?" Her eyes glare at Pandora's Actor as if she wanted to kill him.

Pandora's Actor takes a melodramatic pose. "No, no, no, noooooo! To think my words be misunderstood as that. Mademoiselle, I am simply saying that the motivations of humans need not be complicated. For I, Pandora's Actor, had learned so during my post as the adamantite adventurer Momon!"

Silence.

"It is one of the ways I had grown that I wish to show Ainz-sama." He makes an effort to save himself from the awkward silence, thinking back fondly to his father's wish of seeing the parts of him he did not create.

It did not help in any way to put off the silence.

Thinking that the silence had gone on for far too long. Demiurge claps to attention. "To its merit, that would explain two other things at least. First, the doppelganger didn't join in the fight against Shalltear and Aura. Second, the willingness of the quantum sorcerer to leave his other companion to save the child. That does fit indeed. Humans are simple creatures after all."

"As expected of Nazarick's foremost intellectual." Shalltear praises. "So it was in their stupidity that they couldn't recognize Ainz-sama's awesome presence. That makes sense. Still, to disrespect Ainz-sama... Ooooh, I wish I had killed them from where they stood."

"You idiot." Aura kicks Shalltear in the side. "Ainz-sama had already decided to grant them a trial. Surely, he must've had planned their fate already."

"It's not like I don't know that, shorty." Shalltear rubs her side where she had been kicked, making an irritated glance at Aura.

"Uhm… I think we should listen to Demiurge first." Mare sheepishly requests the two who are about to bicker.

Finding his coworkers now in the mood to listen. "Now, on the matter about Albedo." He looks to the guardian overseer. Her eyes are brimming with shame, frustration, and hatred. "You were gone for a minute. And for three-quarters of that, you've been wondering along the beach on the Western Shore of the Kingdom. Just what had happened within those 15 seconds to inspire your ire so much?"

Albedo bites her lips. She is not particularly prideful, but for a lowly human to be able to but her into that state grates on her pride as the overseer of the guardians. It didn't help that her reunion with her beloved Ainz-sama is spoiled by Shalltear who accused her of abusing her position to get closer to their lord. But nevertheless, she also recognizes to tell everyone of what she could remember of their enemies' abilities. She takes care to warn them of the one with the strangely powerful aura, who she knows very little so far.

All the guardians present made sure to take note of.

"They are also capable of using magics only the supreme beings possess. Super-Tier magic." She explained how she was rendered incapable of fighting when she got hit. She glosses over the details of her feelings when she was hit out of dignity but it was obvious to the perceptive. She grits her teeth as she finishes. Her eyes, though looking forward, it out of focus and her thoughts turned inward. Her hands, tense and threatening to crush whatever it manages to hold onto. It is clear that she is holding back her rage.

"That still doesn't mean you can wrap your hands around Ainz-sama when we came to pick you up. You were gone for a minute, you obsessed Gorilla." Shalltear quips, still bitter that Ainz had to shout at them for fighting when they picked her up. "You should've seen your face going 'CoME oN OuT So I CaN KiLL YoU AgaIN, YoU FiLthY HuMAn!'" She adds with a playful yet mocking tone.

Albedo's pent up malice snaps at Shalltear, unable to find its desired target. Her hand instinctively grabs Shalltear by the neck of her dress. "COME AGAIN, YOU LAMPREY!? You have no idea what I have been through! At least I didn't get myself mind controlled and attacked Ainz-sama when I found myself on my own." Albedo bellowed in sudden rage.

Everybody looked at Albedo in shock, including Shalltear who is the last to process Albedo's words. Nobody, including Albedo, was expecting her words. She had crossed a line, that much she is sure.

Shalltear was stunned, this isn't like their usual conflict and shouting, Albedo never brings that up to spite her. Despite their constant fighting, they both respect each other as a fellow guardian who serves their master with their lives. Her surprise turns to hurt. A multitude of emotions arose from Shalltear's chest, her face seemingly undecided which one to show. Pain, shame, understanding, hate, but ultimately rage.

"DO YOU EVEN KNOW HOW WORRIED WE ALL WERE!? HOW FURIOUS AINZ-SAMA WAS AND HOW GLAD HE WAS TO HEAR THAT YOU'RE OKAY? How could you even…" Shalltear attempts to find the right words. Shalltear and Albedo had always been rivals, though despite their rivalry and constant bickering, they get along well and respect each other as fellow servants. But that event had always been a sore spot for Shalltear. It was an event that Shalltear does not remember, but is noticeably still greatly disturbed by. There's no sin far greater than to point one's spear against the Supreme Being.

"How dare you." Shalltear says, almost as a whisper. She takes a long hard stare at Albedo, who, at this moment has remorse written on her face. Shalltear opens her mouth to say more but decides to close back it without a word.

For a split-second, Albedo was tempted to defend herself, but she realizes her mistake. She had gone too far. What Shalltear said is true. The moment that she was teleported away, her beloved master Ainz-sama had Nigredo search for her and had Sebas check her status from Nazarick, she was told the moment they returned to Nazarick. Though the fact that a mere human to grate on her nerves so much makes her even angrier, she knows enough that that's no reason to take it out on Shalltear.

Albedo apologizes to Shalltear which she begrudgingly accepts.

Not wanting to risk another moment of tension among guardians, Demiurge cuts in and assumes control of the meeting.

"Seriously, you two. If Ainz-sama were to hear you fight like that again, I could only imagine how he'll react. To have similar people from Yggdrasil aside from Nazarick is an unprecedented event, and I understand how some of us might be a little on edge." He looks to Albedo. "But don't worry. This, too, is within Ainz-sama's plan."

The guardians that are present agree, surely he has plans for these three.

"Eh? We just learned of their existence yesterday. What plan exactly?" Pandora's Actor asks innocently, looking confused.

Demiurge looks at Pandora's Actor as if he just intentionally pushed Demiurge into a landmine. "That is…" Demiurge fumbles.

"Uhm… I would like to know what too. So that we can do what Ainz-sama wishes." Mare adds.

"I must admit, my intellect could not yet comprehend the unfathomable wisdom of Ainz-sama." Demiurge surrenders. He turns to Pandora's Actor, "as the creation of Ainz-sama, I was hoping you would be able to shed some light to what it could be."

With everyone's attention is on him, Pandora's Actor strikes a pose.

"I have absolutely no idea."

"That's no help at all" Aura remarks.

"Where is Ainz-sama by the way?" Albedo asks.

"He is in the fifth floor, paying a visit to the prisoner. Cocytus and Sebas are accompanying him." Demiurge explains.

"Still? It has been two hours already." Albedo adds. "Maybe we should check up on them?"

"It's okay. That thing's no threat to Ainz-sama. It's already weak and not to mention that Sebas and Cocytus is with him." Aura adds.

"M-maybe Ainz-sama wish to torture her himself?" Mare suggests.

"That is unlikely. Though I can see why that would be appealing. If I were to take a guess, he is likely sowing the seeds he needs to bring his plans into fruition. As he always had." Demiurge could barely hold in a chuckle. "Ainz-sama's wisdom knows no bounds. Surely, this too, is part of his plan."

* * *

 **Ainz Ooal Gown II**

 _I have no idea what I'm doing._

Though he didn't want to keep on relying on Demiurge, he once again had passed his work to him. Although he has a general idea on how trials work, he is certain that he would get something wrong if he was the one to work out the details. When After giving out his assignment however, he was asked what he plans to do, to which he replied that he was going to talk to the prisoner though in truth, he wanted the privacy of his room to think.

 _What the heck am I supposed to say? I haven't prepared any lines for a potential player-to-player conversation. The conversation could go anywhere._

Arriving at the Frozen Prison where the prisoner is held, Ainz, along with Sebas and Cocytus, watch as the new prisoner of Nazarick through the hidden door to her cell. She is golem made of wood with a now a battered and incomplete set of armor sitting against the wall. She is using some sort of skill to lengthening and interweaving her wooden fingers into some kind of humanoid construct in the palm of her hand. It looks crude, and it looks like it takes a lot of concentration and effort to make. On the corner of the room is a collection of dolls.

"Perhaps. Its. Some. Sort. Of. Golem. Familiar?" Cocytus, a giant two-legged insect of the color of ice, comments. He wields a similarly colored halberd at his side.

"That seems an awful lot effort for a mere familiar." Sebas, the dragonoid butler, is sceptical.

"Its not entirely impossible that its some sort of specialized summon. Though I've never heard of one requiring as much effort as that." Ainz adds. "If it is, then it must be dangerous."

"Shall. I. Eradicate. It?"

"That would depend. Let us first question her before we do."

"Wait, Ainz-sama. Please let us check for traps-"

Ainz opens the door and enters, and he is greeted by the wood golem by turning her head around and making a blank silent stare. After all, there's only so much expression a golem with an improperly equipped steel helmet can make.

Cocytus and Sebas follow closely behind, waiting for their master to speak.

"I hope you don't find your accommodations too uncomfortable."

"Only as comfortable as a prison cell can be."

"What is that?" Ainz asks as she points to the golem's palm.

"Oh this." Arisa breaks off the wood connecting the humanoid figure and her fingers and offers it to Ainz. "It's called art."

Ainz takes the wooden figure to inspect it.

"There's not much to do and I'm bored. I'm trying to make one like those creepy dolls. It's still crude, I'm still nowhere as good as I was in 3D modeling." Her head turns to the pile of dolls she must've put in the corner.

"I see. So you do 3D modeling. It does not look as rough as you would claim."

 _Wait. 3D modeling? So she did came from Earth._

"Are you a player, Mr. Ainz Ooal Gown?" It was a direct and inevitable question. The one question he didn't want to address.

 _Both Sebas and Cocytus are here, after all is said and done, he doesn't want to expose the person that is Suzuki Satoru. If they learn that Suzuki is just some loser who spends his entire fortune on video games, their loyalty might sway._

"You. Will. Address. Ainz-sama. As. His. Majesty," Cocytus threatened.

With a practiced majestic motion, Ainz raises his hand to silence Cocytus.

"Cocytus, Sebas, I wish to speak with her in private."

"But Ainz-sama! How can we protect you if-"

"Sebas, are you suggesting that I could not handle a beaten up wood golem with hardly any HP left?"

"That is…" Sebas bites his lips. "If that is your wish, Ainz-sama. We shall be on the other side of the door."

The two leaves and closes the door.

Ainz turns to the wood golem sitting on the floor.

"Now then. To answer your question. Yes. I am a player but I am known here as Ainz Ooal Gown."

"Oh thank god. I wouldn't know what to say if you weren't a player." Arisa makes a sigh of relief. "Takamura Arisa. As you may have guessed, I used to work as a 3D Artist. That is, before arriving to this world." Her voice sounds professional, but one with comfortability. "So, what's your name?"

 _Ohh! She's also Japanese. My name? But I just told her… After everything, am I still Suzuki Satoru? But clearly that's what she's asking._

"Well?" She asks, her posture now seated in attention and interest.

For a brief moment, Ainz channels his inner Suzuki. That is, his practiced lines of introduction he gives while working.

"My name is Suzuki Satoru. Pleased to meet you." Ainz makes a short bow, customary of that a regular Japanese salary man.

 _As I thought, this feels awkward. I wonder what Sebas and Cocytus maybe saying behind the door._

"You're Japanese as well! No way!" Arisa practically jumps into a stand, her broken armor clanking as it suddenly moves.

The door suddenly opens with Cocytus and Sebas jumping in and pointing his halberd at the wooden golem. "Move. Closer. And. I. Shall. Cut. You. Down. Wood. Golem."

Arisa makes an instinctively backs away with her hands raised.

"It is fine, it is fine. Cocytus, Sebas. She just got a little excited is all."

After ensuring that it is fine, both Cocytus and Sebas go back to their posts.

"Forgive my subordinates, they can be a bit… passionate with their work."

"Oh. Forgive my excitement. For a year now I haven't had anyone other than my husband and my daughter to talk with. And the demihumans and spirits that live near me constantly praises me and thinks so highly of me it can get tiring very quick. I think I would go crazy if I don't have anyone else to talk to." There is a slight crack in her voice.

 _Why does that sound relatable?_

"Ooh, so the other two are your husband and child?"

"Yes. They can be a little too serious for their own good. My husband, most of all." She sighs. "But enough about me, what about you, Suzuki-san? Are there other players in Nazarick? I heard about Jaldabaoth and Honyopenyoko. Is it true that NPCs rebel?"

 _She is incredibly direct! How the heck should I answer that one? There's no way I'd tell her the truth. After all, sometimes it's better to be polite than truthful. Well, my boss told us that once but… It definitely applies here._

"Ah, I am fine. Though my undead body does not allow much for emotions. Unfortunately, I am the only one. And as for Jaldabaoth and Honyopenyoko…"

 _I can't think of any excuse. I need to stall for time._

"What do you think?"

"I don't know, that's why I'm asking you."

 _That usually works!_

"Ah. It is unfortunate. But that is so. They were written and made in their settings to be problematic. But do not worry. The rest of Nazarick here are loyal to me."

The two asks questions back and forth, though it was an exchange that is not smooth all throughout. Both parties had secrets they had to keep, but it is the first time since arriving in the new world that Ainz had been treated as an equal. It is refreshing in its own way. From questions turned to stories, and they would later find themselves talking about manga and other trivial matters.

* * *

 **Evileye I**

It was in the dark of night, a campfire blazes in the along the roads connecting the territories of Re-Estize Kingdom, The Sorcerous Kingdom, and The Slane Theocracy.

She grasps and inspects the sealing crystal in her hand. She has inspected it more than ten times now. She could not believe it. It is a sealing crystal with a seventh tier spell, similar to the one Momon had used against the vampire Honyopenyoko.

"How the hell did that granny get her hands on something like this? And to have it used so liberally…" She pauses. "It's such a waste."

The adamantite adventurer group Blue Rose is camped a few miles outside of E-Rantel. They were headed towards the site where Momon fought Honyopenyoko. During their investigations on the sudden appearance of powerful beings, the granny had all of a sudden announced that she has gotten a hold of a sealing crystal similar to that used by Momon.

" _Do not trust Momon."_

That is what that granny said.

 _Tsk._

Evileye is irritated.

 _Surely. Surely, Momon can be trusted. The hero that had driven off Jaldabaoth from the capital. He is my knight in shining armor. This will prove that he did not lie._

"Hoy, Evileye." A large woman in a simple white burlap cloth groggily calls out from inside the tent. It was Gagaran, one of her companions in this investigation. "You gonna sleep or what?"

"I don't need it."

"Still worried? You've been looking at that thing for days now." Gagaran gets out and sits beside Evileye. Her human eyes, take in the image of the blonde child holding a crystal by the fire. "You're quite the maiden now, aren't you?" Gagaran teases.

Evileye sighs. "Of course I'm worried. Aren't you?"

"Of course I am. But not right now." She playfully bumps her fist in Evileye's shoulder.

"Easy for you to say. This whole thing is questioning my love for the greatest hero to grace my life. Gaaaah!" She raises her arms as if wanting to shout. "Curse you granny!"

Gagaran laughs. "You must've really like him. Well anyway. But that granny, she mentioned that the one who gave her that should be in E-Rantel. Think we should meet him?"

"I don't like the idea of going anywhere near the Sorcerer King, as much as I would like to, there's a very special risk involved. You and Tia should go without me."

"Is that so? I guess you're right." She paused. "You wouldn't want to have an awkward reunion with Momon too."

Evileye laughs. "That too."

A few more moments of conversation, Gagaran notices a short beam of light leave the forests in the direction of E-Rantel. It's barely noticeable from such a large distance. But you tend to notice things when you look at idle stars.

"Is that a shooting star?" Gagaran asks, both of them are now standing to watch.

"No. It looks different. I'll go take a better look." Evileye casts fly, and goes upward.

"Don't do anything rash."

With a better vantage point, Evileye can see more clearly, though being miles away she could barely make out the details. Not that it matters. When the beam of light fell, there was a large explosion, destroying everything in the area.

 _What kind of monster could possibly be involved in this?_

Whoever was in that blast radius should be dead. That much, she is sure.

Cold sweat came trickling down her face when a number of pillars of fire and light emerge from the area.

 _They are still fighting!?_

With the area now leveled and open, she can make out at least three beings flying and fighting. Even with excellent night vision, she can see nothing but three small dots from this distance. But there's no doubt that they are fighting. She does not know who they are. But there seems to be other people fighting in the forest, the one who shot out the beam of light. From where she's at, trees are being leveled and destroyed. Going anywhere closer would surely be a risk to her life. She is out in the open. If there is someone with a better vision than her who decides to look this way, it would be bad.

"Oy, Evileye, what is it?"

She flies down to Gagaran and sits down from where she used to be.

"Monsters. A lot of them."

"Then I'll go get my hammer."

"Don't bother. That's the Sorcerous Kingdom's territory, that's not our fight." She bites her lips. She never felt so powerless. "We will die if we get caught."

"Oh. That kind of monster."

* * *

 **AN:** Okay, sorry for taking a long time than usual. I'm gonna be busy with work and studies from now on but I'll still try to write a chapter for at least every 1 and a half months if that is possible.

Also, I think its high time I talk about the direction of this fic. It's a pretty serious fic, if I dare say so myself. Definitely not the way I envision it at first, but stuff happens in the writing process. Honestly, this entire fanfiction thing is more of an experiment for me. This is my first serious attempt of fiction (that got more than 5k words) and I'm doing this more as an experiment (with format, writing, pov, content, etc). So far, I'm definitely enjoying the story and hopefully you do as well. I'm sure this won't be to everybody's taste, that's a given in everything. To address some comments, if there are some details that you think I left out, missed, or wrongly interpreted. 3 out of 4 times, it is likely intentional (either for some reveal later on, intentional vagueness, or simply me thinking its not important). I also had minor edits in the previous chapters. So if you feel like it, feel free to re-read it. I'm planning to polish it later down the line, but I can make no promises.

Also, on the topic of characters:

More OC and canon side characters POV to come.

 **Retcon:** Since there is actually no point in keeping it (or making one in the first place), I decided to drop Arisa's other name: Anita

 **Edit:** Some minor edits pointed out by the reviews. I'm sorry, I'm relatively new to ff and haven't really explored the betareader function. Currently open to volunteers and recommendation.


	9. Troubling Times

_TROUBLING TIMES_

 **Evileye II**

The three adamantite adventurers had been making good way towards their destination. Leading the group is a huge woman warrior wearing heavy crimson plate armor. Her large beefy hands threaten to crush the machete she uses to clear a path through the dense forest foliage. Strapped to her back is a bag of incredible size and a warpick of which she uses to fight all manner of beast. Behind the hulking warrior follows her comrades: the deadly assassin Tina, and the vampire sorcerer Evileye.

The woods were eerily silent, even for the enhanced senses of Evileye. Save for the hushed steps of skittering wildlife and the hacking of Gagaran's machete. The three trekked in heavy silence. Nobody was in the mood to talk. What Evileye had witnessed the night before is further proof that a new wave of beings of unimaginable power had started appearing.

Tina's body shifts. "Perhaps I should've checked it out? I know that it's all on everyone's minds" she laments, likely feeling left out of for being asleep during the night's events. "I can stay hidden for long periods of time, you know." Her hand hovers over a pouch of ninja tools she uses for stealth.

"We better not risk it. It's likely that the Sorcerous Kingdom has people to investigate or clean up their mess. If anything, I should be the one to investigate, I can always teleport away if there's any trouble." Evileye quickly replies, followed by a pause, remembering her first encounter with Jaldabaoth. She was lucky to be saved by the heroic Momon who made her heart start beating again… The same Momon who she was told by an old friend not to trust. She clicks her tongue in irritation.

 _Tsk._

Gagaran chimes in and enters the sudden conversation. "Forget it Tina, if it's enough to terrify our little shorty here. It's probably far too dangerous to risk alone." With a smile, Gagaran places a heavy muscular hand on Evileye's head.

"I'm not scared, you big muscle head!" Evileye's voice rose, slapping her companion's hand off her head. "It's only logical. We have a mission we must do. Lakyus is away working with Red Drop and it's a long way back to the Re-Estize. It's the only option to take!" She grits her pointed canines in annoyance and looks down, part of her ashamed as she realize that if she wasn't so distracted by Momon, she would've elected to scout out the battlefield.

 _What is wrong with me today?_

"Oi, relax Evileye. I didn't mean anything by it." Gagaran backs off, raising her arms in surrender, not expecting Evileye to give such an emotional reply.

There was a moment of stunned silence. Ever since her conversation with Rigrit, Evileye hadn't been the same. Gagaran was just trying to keep things cheerful, but her attempts just made Evileye feel worse.

Evileye turns and starts to walk, "let's just get this over with and return quick- wooah". The corner of Evileye's cloak catches on to something behind her. Her senses sharpen as she was suddenly dragged by an unknown force but her instincts as an adventurer tell her she is in no danger. Whatever it is pulls her roughly into a moss covered bark. A moment later and she finds herself pinned by Tina to a tree. Her orange-red gaze is intent, a mix of stern and worry. Any half-heartened attempt to free herself is met with an unyielding push by the shoulder. With a quick sleight of hand, she removes Evileye's mask revealing a discontented glare.

Gagaran looks on with surprise, her mouth gaped in her comrade's sudden action.

"Evileye, you-" Tina hardened her glare, words alone will not be enough to reach her companion. If she backs off now, her friend's attitude will only get worst. Their contest of wills went on for a few more seconds before Evileye looks away, forfeiting the fight.

"What do you want, Tina?"

"This is about Momon, isn't it?" Tina interrogates Evileye, her tone is hard and unwavering.

"What!?" She suddenly exclaims. "Beings as powerful and mysterious as Jaldabaoth are suddenly all over the place, fighting each other like it's nobody's business. We know so little and now we are being forced to question who we can trust! Who these players are will determine the fate of all humanity. And yet you're asking me if I'm acting like this because of Momon-sa…" Evileye stops, any form of resistance from her crumbles into a surrender. She could not bring herself to deny her own feelings.

"So it is about Momon…" Tina concludes, stating what is obvious from the start. "You're getting your feelings too involved in this."

"I didn't… say that." Evileye weakly said then a sudden outburst. "For all we know, he could've been in league with the Sorcerer King from the start!" There was a brief and barely noticeable crack in her voice, trying to convince herself.

Tina lets go of Evileye, her robe now creased muddled with moss.

"Oh? Where's the Evileye who cursed the granny just for suggesting it? You looked ready to blast her for it," Gagaran comments teasingly from behind Tina, her large booming voice echo in the woods.

"I! I..." She pauses. "Curse you both! I'm trying to not get my feelings in the way, could you not bring that up?" She points an accusing finger at her companions, shouting like a child.

Tina smacks Evileye on the head. "You really are hopeless. Where's the cool and critical Evileye we know?" She makes an exaggerated sigh. "Don't worry about it, Evileye. If we find out he was lying about his battle with the vampire Honyopenyoko, then we don't trust him. If it's the truth, then consider a possible future relationship saved. Simple as that." She pauses. "You really don't have much experience with feelings, don't you? Besides, there could be other reasons for Momon to hide to truth about the battle." Tina winks at Evileye with a smile.

If it was possible for Evileye to blush, she would've. She turns away from the two, arms crossed. "I- I knew that."

"Our shorty is so inexperienced. Maybe you should be more straightforward like me." Gagaran proudly points a thumb to herself.

"I at least have some standards!" Evileye practically shouts and her two companions laugh at the exchange.

Tina returns the mask to Evileye and the trio continued their journey with renewed spirits and eventually arrived at their destination. It was the site of Momon's battle with Honyopenyoko, one of the vampires Momon allegedly chased down on E-Rantel.

Evileye's jaw fell as she saw the landscape, crushed under the implications. It was more than a year since she last investigated this place, but what once she saw in awe is now a grim mystery. "It hasn't changed… Nothing's changed."

The forest opened up into a large clearing. No, to call it as just a clearing would be understatement. It was a small desert with a crater in the middle of it. The air was stale. Not a single blade of grass could be found at the edge of the desiccated region. The roots and branches of the trees refused to grow into it. Horrifically, it was as if death itself forbade life to grow here.

Evileye shook under her mask. For someone well-versed with spells, she doubted that a holy or fire spell would be able to cause this, even if it was as powerful as 10th tier.

Everyone's eyes fixed on the desert before them. None dared to expose themselves and stuck to the edge.

"A 7th tier spell couldn't possibly be able to do this. I was a fool to think it's amazing that Momon-sama managed to pull this off."

"It could be vampire magic?" Tina suggested.

"Yeah, what are the odds of that?"

"It's not impossible… but I doubt it. I haven't heard of vampires possessing magic that can cause this before. What's more, the old hag told us that one of our former companions actually fought the vampire once. Honyopenyoko is an evil entity with blood red armor and a lance that drains life. I doubt any warrior could've done this..."

「Detect Magic」

Evileye scans the landscape. "Nothing."

 _How is this even possible?_

The vampire takes the magic crystal into her hand and gives the crystal to Gagaran for her to use.

Gagaran motions the others to back away, she raises the crystal towards the desert and uses it.

A large blanket of light blasted from the gleaming chunk of material, bathing anything in front of it in pure white light. The three of them watched on, every one of them were certain that that level of magic would've incapacitated them, if not outright killed, should they be hit by the full brunt of it. Even their leader who is one of the best in faith based magic in the whole of Re-Estize would not be able to match the sheer might of the spell they had unleashed from the crystal.

However, despite the powerful magical power displayed, it could barely cover a quarter of the area damaged by Momon's fight with Honyopenyoko. It would've been anti-climactic if the outcome wasn't so obvious and expected.

It was pitifully weak in comparison.

One does not simply call the adventurers of Blue Rose superstitious. Their very own powers themselves can inspire the stories of heroes. Few words were spoken, despite more questions that needed to be answered. But with their mission completed, nobody wanted to stay any longer. Nobody wanted to deal with whatever power that may linger here. It is far too dangerous, it _feels_ too dangerous. It was typical for adventurers to twist the stories of their accomplishments to make them sound more heroic. In Momon's case, his strength was so unreal he needed to downplay his strength just to be believable. But even then, this is just too much to keep secret. Whatever happened here, whatever link there is between Momon, the vampires he chased here, Jaldabaoth, the Sorcerer King, and the sorcerer who approached Rigrit is a question that needs to be answered.

Night came when they were a good distance away from the site. They set up camp and lay down their bedroll. Like a well-oiled machine, they gathered the materials required quickly. Evileye lit the fire with a basic kindling spell, something she had learned before she became a vampire.

Just as Gagaran finishes cooking up a meal for them to eat, the three decides to check on the site of the previous night's event the next day on the condition that they avoid any trouble with the Sorcerous Kingdom.

"Now with all of that out of the way, don't let that spoil a good meal." Gagaran states as she passes a serving of rabbit stew to her companion. The three adamantite adventurers settle down for dinner.

"How do you think Tia and Lakyus are doing on their end?" Tina asks as she takes a spoonful of stew in delight.

"A group of gold ranked adventurers got wiped out fending off a goblin raid. Except it wasn't just goblins, it's as if someone's trying to band demi-humans and heteromorphs together. It was the talk of town. Honestly, it would've sound fun if the demihuman invasion in the holy kingdom never happened." Gagaran raised a bowl to her face and chugged a mouthful of food into her mouth.

"The forest is a lot smaller than the Abelion Hills, not to mention its inhabitants are wilder, more primitive, and less threatening. There are giants who live northwest of the forest have friendly relations with Argland Council State. But as someone who has friends in Argland, I can safely say that they aren't responsible for this one." Evileye takes a spoonful of stew in front of the fire. "Whoever it is organizing in the forest there is a really in the worst place to make an army. Re-Estize may have been severely weakened from the previous war, but it's just asking for trouble to build something near Argland. If the person behind it is really powerful, there's just no reason to bother supporting the weaker races there."

"Basically you're saying sending in both Red Drop and Blue Rose is overkill, aren't you?" Gagaran concludes as she wipes stew residue from her mouth.

"Actually, there are other reasons the leader wants to see this one for herself." Tina interjects.

"And that is?"

"One of the survivors, a priest who the fled the village during the raid had reported something strange. Whoever was behind it is suspected of using a spell like control cloud to keep obscure the view of something, probably a tower. All the raiders were buffed, or more accurately blessed by something similar to faith magic but the type used by nature spirits."

"Could the Fey be involved in this?" Evileye raised an eyebrow. It'd been a long time since she had to deal with nature spirits. "Nature spirits are generally harmless unless you threaten them. They can be fickle and self-serving but it's the first time I've heard one supporting an interspecies alliance, much less actively support races that tend raid on humans."

"No matter, we'll just see what Tia and the leader has to say about it once we meet up." Gagaran concludes.

The party finished their meals and retire for the night.

As an undead, Evileye didn't need sleep so she always took the first rotation of night time guard duty. Despite staying up all night, everyone in Blue Rose still insisted on taking turns staying watch. At first Evileye thought that it was illogical and a waste of energy, but she learned to bond with everyone that way. Nobody admits it, but the sentiment was to keep Evileye company through the night.

To a vampire like her, the night is clear as day. Her enhanced senses are more than enough to pick up on most dangers that may approach during the night.

There is just too little to do.

She would often read tomes or books on night watch to pass the time. But she just doesn't feel like it. There's too many things going on in her head right now. Her beloved Momon-sama, the vampire Honyopenyoko, the magic on their battleground, the sorcerer king, the fey, and the human sorcerer who approached Rigrit.

"Ooh, I wish I can just sleep this all off!" Evileye scowls as she ruffle her golden hair, trying to keep her head from overthinking. She collapses sideways willingly, her face lands facing the campfire.

The fire flickered through the night, crackling. Dancing.

 _So long as there is wood for it to burn, it will not die. If one were to stop feeding it wood, or pour a bucket of water on it, then it will die. If it burns too strongly it will turn to nothing but ash. Humans are like that. Frail. The fires of their life are very easily snuffed out. Those that desire power more than they can handle will leave nothing but a husk of their former selves. All it takes is one moment of foolishness, and the fires that burn would consume you, leaving nothing but ash. Isn't that right, Keenu Fasris Inberun?_

Despite a vampire's natural aversion to fire, she removes a glove and touches the fire.

It's nowhere near as bad as she felt it should have been. The fire glazed her hand, threatening to burn her light undead skin, but it's nothing her innate vampiric regeneration can't fix.

She looks on, not realizing she entered into a mesmerized trance.

* * *

Elsewhere…

The sound of moving branches and leaves echo through the air. An exodus of the anguished is motion. An old willow creaks. His old branches sway with each passing step, his stumpy, tired legs finally reach their destination.

"My lady. Arisa. To where does. The undead. Take you? Oh please. My lady. I pray. That you. Be safe."

His large feet sink deeper into the ground, taking root. His body wriggles into place. Branches creak and leaves shake in the wind with each wood creaking shuffle.

"My friends. Speak. And I. Shall. Listen. May the. Blessings of. Lady Arisa. Be upon. Us all."

* * *

 **AN:** Sorry for the late update. In between grad school, work, and a newfound addiction to dark souls, it's hard to find some time to work on this. I'll try to keep to a month and a half per update. Also, a very special thanks to Pterodactyl for beta-reading my work. I hope you guys find this chapter enjoyable.


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